8r^'^
THE SOUTHERN SLAV QUESTION
BY THE SAME AUTHOR
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THE
SOUTHERN SLAV
QUESTION
AND THE
HABSBURG MONARCHY
By
R. W. SETON -WATSON
D.Litt (Oxon.)
LONDON
CONSTABLE & CO. LTD.
1911
Butler & Tanner
The Selwood Printing Works
Frome and London
THAT AUSTRIAN STATESMAN
WHO SHALL POSSESS THE GENIUS AND THE COURAGE
NECESSARY TO SOLVE
THE SOUTHERN SLAV QUESTION,
THIS BOOK IS RESPECTFULLY
DEDICATED.
DocH ach ! Was hilft dem Menschengeist Verstand,
Dem Herzen Gute, Willigkeit der Hand,
Wenn's fieberhaft durchaus im Staate wiitet,
Und Ubel sich in tJbeln uberbriitet ?
Wer schaut hinab von diesem hohen Raum
Ins weite Reich, ihm scheint's ein schwerer Traum
Wo Missgestalt in Missgestalten schaltet.
Das Ungesetz gesetzlich iibenvaltet,
Und eine Welt des Irrtums sich entfaltet. . . .
Und " Schuldig ! " horst du ausgesprochen.
Wo Unschuld nur sich selber schiitzt.
So will sich alle Welt zerstuckeln,
Vernichtigen, was sich gebiihrt ;
Wie soil sich da der Sinn entwickeln
Der einzig uns zum Rechten fiihrt ? . . .
Ich malte schwarz — doch dichtern Flor
Zog ich dem Bilde lieber vor.
Goethe, Faust, II.
VI
Preface
No country in Europe presents such a variety of compli-
cated problems for solution as the Austro-Hungarian
Monarchy ; and among these, none is more important and
more pressing than the Southern Slav Question. In it are
involved the future fortunes of the whole Croat and Serb race,
and through them the fate of the Western half of the Balkan
Peninsula — from the Gulf of Trieste to the Bulgarian frontier,
from the plains of Southern Hungary to the mountains of
Albania. On it depends the balance of power on the Adriatic,
with all its bearings upon the international situation. Above
all, the Southern Slav Question may at any moment exercise a
decisive influence upon the foreign policy of Vienna, and upon
the internal development of the Dual Monarchy. For on the
one hand Austria cannot hope to extend her influence in the
Balkans, unless she enlists in her cause the sympathies and
support of her eight millions of Southern Slav subjects ; while
on the other hand, the Croato-Serb race, by reason of its geo-
graphical and strategic position, has it in its power by a strict
alliance with Austria against Hungary, to destroy completely
in favour of the former the balance upon which the Dual
System is based, and so to play havoc with the entire mechanism
and pave the way for that compromise between federalism
and centralism through which alone the acute racial problems
of the Dual Monarchy can be solved.
The present volume attempts to trace the growth of national
feeling among the Croats and Serbs of the Dual Monarchy, and
to describe in fuller detail the more recent movement in favour
of Croato-Serb Unity. The fact that the English language
contains no book devoted to the history of this movement,
must be my excuse for occasional prolixity ; not merely the
main building, but even the substructure had to be created.
The second portion of the book deals with the Annexation
of Bosnia, with the international crisis to which that event
gave rise, and with the subsequent exposure of the methods
which underlay Count Aehrenthal's whole policy, and under
vii
PREFACE
which the Southern Slavs were the chief sufferers. The his-
tory of the Fried] ung Trial and of the Vasid forgeries sheds
such a flood of light upon the political situation alike among
the Southern Slavs and in the Dual Monarchy as a whole,
that I make no apology for treating it in detail — the more so,
since detailed treatment was essential to a fair statement of the
rival views.
It was inevitable that any book dealing with this subject
should contain an open, and often severe, criticism of Count
Aehrenthal's diplomatic methods. The interests of interna-
tional decency demand that theft, forgery and espionage
should cease to be the main pillars of foreign policy in any state
which deserves the title of a Great Power. There are occa-
sions when the surgeon's knife is more necessary than the
nurse's bandage ; and in the same way I should be neglecting
the elementary canons of honest criticism, were I to slur over
the facts of this monstrous diplomatic scandal. It is Austria
who has been the chief sufferer, alike in prestige and materially,
and thus their exposure, so far from being inspired by hostility
to Austria, is a pre-eminently Austrian interest. Acting in
this belief, I have repeatedly emphasized the contrast between
Austria's true political mission in the Balkans, and the foul
intrigues which have brought her into unmerited disrepute.
There are certain things in the Austria of to-day, of which it
is impossible to approve ; but to the impartial observer new
life and the desire for progress are everywhere apparent, and
not merely this, but a steady growth in the conception of
political and constitutional liberty and an increasing distaste
for the old methods which still linger on in certain departments
of public life. Hence any book which aims at the elucidation
of the truth in this direction, may fairly claim to be credited
with friendly intentions.
The official press of Vienna has a characteristic habit of
treating any criticism of Austro-Hungarian diplomatic methods
towards Servia as an apology for the latter state, and indeed of
treating any criticism of the Foreign Minister as a proof of
hostility towards the Dual Monarchy. The very contrary is
the case ; if I were hostile, I should leave the canker untouched,
instead of trying to expose it to view. In any case, no one
who reads my book will be able to charge me with condoning
the corruption and abuses which disfigure political life in Servia
and make it impossible to sympathize with Pan-Serb aspira-
tions. Their triumph would indeed be a disaster to European
PREFACE
culture, which it is the mission of the Dual Monarchy, with its
many races, to represent in South-East Europe.
Incidentally I would recommend a close study of the Aehren-
thal policy to all believers in Disarmament ; for it is not too
much to assert that that must remain a mere dream so long as
international policy is conducted on such lines.
To the student of British politics the Croatian problem should
be of special interest at the present time ; for Croatia supplies
the sole genuine analogy upon the Continent of Europe to the
position which Ireland would occupy under a system of Home
Rule. A careful study of the relations of Hungary and Croatia
would be of the utmost value alike to the convinced Unionist
and to the thoughtful advocate of devolution. Federalism or
any other scheme of constitutional readjustment among the
four sister nations of these islands. Those who are reluctant
to learn from the past history of Ireland itself, may learn from
the history of Hungary and Croatia, how Ireland should not
be treated, and how ineffectual are repression and lack of
sympathy in the solution of any national or racial question.
For a long time past I have regretfully foreseen that I should
be driven to criticize Dr. Friedjung, for whose historical writ-
ings I have the utmost admiration and whose personal kindness
I greatly valued during my visits to Vienna. Fate assigned
him a prominent part in the political development of Croatia,
and it was therefore inevitable that he should figure prominently
in these pages. I can only assure him that I have done my
utmost to do justice to his motives, and that while I have not
hesitated to criticize his attitude where criticism seemed neces-
sary, nothing has shaken my high estimate of his character
as a man and a historian.
I have resolved to ignore the personalities in which my
" critics " in Hungary have indulged since the publication of
my last two books. Racial Problems in Hungary and Corruption
and Reform in Hungary. But I am obliged to make one brief
exception in favour of a former countryman of my own.
Professor Arthur Yolland, of Budapest University, has seen fit
to publish an article in the April number of Magyar Figyelo
(a Hungarian review published under the imprimatur of the
ex-Premier Count Stephen Tisza), containing long winded
insinuations to the effect that I was paid for my book Racial
Problems in Hungary by some person or persons unknown.
If this lie is not based upon sheer ignorance (and Professor
Yolland has had ample opportunity of informing himself through
PREFACE
mutual acquaintances) it can only be a deliberate slander ;
and I hereby challenge him either to withdraw his insinuation
or to justify his attitude in an English court of law.
Finally, I must express my deep obligation to Mr. Gladstone's
Trustees, who have kindly permitted me to publish as an Appen-
dix to this volume the interesting series of letters addressed to
Mr. Gladstone by the Croatian patriot Bishop Strossmayer ;
and also to Mr. A. Tilney Bassett, for his courteous and ready
assistance in this connexion. I have also been fortunate
enough to obtain, through friends in Croatia, copies of the
replies written by Mr. Gladstone ; and these have been included
in the correspondence in their proper chronological order.
In preparing the map, I have been materially assisted by
my friend Dr. Joseph Smodlaka, who represents Spalato
(Dalmatia) in the Austrian Parliament. It may, however, be
well to point out that neither he nor any other Croat politician
is in any way responsible for the opinions expressed in my
book.
R. W. Seton-Watson.
Ayton House, Abernethy,
July 20, 1911.
Contents
PAGE
Preface vii
Geographical and Statistical Note ..... i
CHAPTER I
Croatia from the Earliest Times till 1849 ... 15
CHAPTER II
The Serbs of Hungary and Croatia . . . . -36
CHAPTER III
The Era of Experiment (1849-1868) ..... 52
CHAPTER IV
The Compromise between Hungary and Croatia (1868) . 65
CHAPTER V
Croatia under the Dual System (1868-1905) ... 85
CHAPTER VI
Bishop Strossmayer and the Renaissance of Croatian
Culture . . . . . . . . .118
CHAPTER VII
An Outline of Croat and Serb Literature . . . 129
CHAPTER VIII
The Resolution of Fiume and its Consequences (1905-1908) . 142
CHAPTER IX
The Annexation of Bosnia and the Agram High Treason
Trial — Absolutism in Croatia 174
CHAPTER X
The Friedjung Trial ........ 209
CONTENTS
CHAPTER XI
The Supilo-Chlumecky Incident
PAGE
. 288
CHAPTER XII
The Vasi(5 Forgeries and Count Aehrenthal — a Criticism
AND AN Inquiry ........
303
CHAPTER XIII
Magyar Railway Policy
329
CHAPTER XIV
Croat and Serb — The Problem of Unity
335
Appendices —
(I
(2
(3
(4
(5
(6
(7
(8
(9
(10
(II
(12
(13
(14
(15
(16
(17
The Election of Ferdinand I as King of Croatia (1527)
The Croatian Pragmatic Sanction (17 12)
The Address of the Croatian Diet, June 5, 1848
Article XLII (1861) of the Croatian Diet
Instructions to the Croatian Delegates during the
Negotiations with Hungary {1867)
The Hungaro-Croatian Compromise (1868)
The Croatian Government (Act II, 1869)
The Croatian Diet (Act II, 1870).
The Croatian Budget ....
Croatia's Economic Position
The Programme of the Party of Pure Right (1893)
The Resolution of Fiume (1905)
The Resolution of Zara (1905) .
The Forged Report of Dr. Spalajkovic .
The Forged Despatch of Dr. Milovanovi^ .
The Condition of Dalmatia (1910)
The Correspondence of Bishop Strossmayer and Mr
Gladstone ......
Bibliography
Map
Index .
347
349
350
357
359
361
379
383
387
388
392
393
395
397
401
406
416
445
To face 454
• 455
zu
GEOGRAPHICAL AND STATISTICAL NOTE
THE name of " Southern Slav " is in its widest sense a geographical
term. The Slavonic races fall naturally into two groups — the
northernmost, comprising the Russians, Ruthenes, Poles, Czechs,
Slovaks ; the southernmost, the Slovenes, Croats, Serbs and Bulgars.
The two groups are completely cut off from each other by three non-
Slav races — the Germans, the Magyars and Roumanians, who occupy
a continous territory from the Baltic to the Black Sea.
Thus from a purely geographical point of view, it is correct to describe
as Southern Slav the whole tract of country between Gorz Klagenfurt
and CUli on the north-west, and Varna, Drama and Salonica on the
south-east, between Neusatz and Temesvar on the north and Dulcigno,
Ipek and Monastir on the south. The Southern Slav population of this
territory may be estimated in round figures as follows : —
I. Slovenes
1,400,000
1,400,000
II. Serbo-Croats —
\
A. Croats in Dalmatia
500,000
in Istria
200,000
in Croatia-Slavonia
1.750,000
in Bosnia-Herzego-
vina ....
400,000
in Hungary
300,000
3,550,000
B. Serbs in Dalmatia
100,000
in Croatia-Slav.
650,000
' 9,600,000
in Bosnia-Herz.
850,000
in Hungary
500,000
in Montenegro.
300,000
in Servia .
2,600,000
in Turkey .
300,000
5,300,000
C. Mohammedan Serbo-Croats
in Bosnia .
650,000
in Turkey .
100,000
750,000
[II Bulgars in Bulgaria ....
3,000,000
in Turkey ....
1,600,000
A f\r\r\ r^riCi -^ f\r\r\ r\r\r\
^. y\J\J\J y\J\J\J
t"""^'^""
Total . . 15,600,000
In view of the impossibility of obtaining really accurate statistics for
S.S.Q. I B
GEOGRAPHICAL AND STATISTICAL NOTE
the whole of this territory, we must be content with the approximate
total of 15,600,000.
The political problem to which the present volume is devoted, and
which has come to be widely known as " the Southern Slav question,"
deals with a more limited field.
This question in its present-day bearings, may be defined as the
problem of Serbo-Croatian unity. Its centre of gravity lay, even before
the annexation of Bosnia, within the bounds of the Habsburg Monarchy ;
and it is in Croatia and Bosnia that it must reach its solution. With
this Bulgaria has nothing directly to do ^ and may therefore be eliminated
from the present survey. For an entirely different reason the Slovenes
are omitted. They have no distinct history of their own : their voice
cannot be decisive in any solution of the problem ; and urgent reasons
of strategy and geograplay make it impossible for them to be included
in any unified Southern Slav state of the immediate future.
The history of the two independent Serb states, Servia and Mon-
tenegro, requires a special volume to itself. It has hitherto been the
fashion abroad to regard them as co-extensive with the Southern Slav
question, or at any rate as the decisive factors in it, and to omit from
the calculation those Southern Slav countries which own allegiance to
the House of Habsburg. In the present volume the process is reversed.
Its whole contention, based upon a reading of past history, is that Servia
and Montenegro can only watch, and are helpless to hinder, the process
of evolution which is gradually making for Serbo-Croat Unity under
Habsburg sway. Their gallant struggles for independence in the past
may kindle regret in the heart of the sentimental onlooker ; but it
cannot obscure the inexorable lesson of history.
The Croats and Serbs are by origin two kindred Slavonic tribes who
followed the Avars to the territory which they now occupy, in the
course of the sixth and seventh centuries.^ Living on the frontier
between east and west, they have for centuries been exposed to the
rival influence of Rome and Byzantium and the eternal strife of these
two opposing systems of thought and culture has given to the Croato-
Serb race its dual nature, and is at once its strength and its weakness —
its weakness in long centuries of seemingly futile strife and disunion,
its strength in a still distant future which shall have attained the
higher and more complex " Unitas in Diversitate." Linguistic unity
has already been achieved ; for the Croat language is Serb written with
Latin, the Serb language, Croat written with Cyrillic characters : other
difference there is none. The true line of cleavage is religious, every
Croat being a Roman Catholic, every Serb a member of the Orthodox
Church. To this there are virtually no exceptions.
The Croato-Serb race is at present cut up into eight distinct political
entities. Istria and Dalmatia are provinces of Austria, each possessing
its own Diet and local institutions. Croatia-Slavonia is an autonomous
kingdom ^ under the Crown of St. Stephen, but in all matters of inter-
national policy must be reckoned as an integral portion of the kingdom
^ Though indirectly its solution and the consequent increase in Austrian prestige
and power in the Balkans would of course vitally affect its foreign policy.
* Philologists have derived the name " Hrvat " (Croat) and " Srb " (Serb) from
the same root. They base their argument on the grammatical rule which con-
verts "h" into "s" and the kinship between "v" and "b."
3 Nominally two kingdoms.
3
' CROATIA-SLAVONIA
of Hungary. The former Serb Voivody forms part of the South
Hungarian counties of Bacs-Bodrog, Torontal and Temes ; while the
city of Fiume enjoys a special autonomous position, under a Governor
appointed from Budapest. Bosnia and Herzegovina are administered
in the name of Austria and Hungary by the Joint Minister of Finance,
their exact constitutional position being still undefined owing to the
rival claims of the Dual States. Servia and Montenegro form indepen-
dent Serb states, under native dynasties ; while Old Servia as the
northernmost vilayet of Macedonia, still acknowledges the Sultan's
sway. A brief survey of the geographical and economic conditions of
these countries will show how untenable the present situation is.
A. CROATiA-SLAvoNrA (16,423 Square miles).
The secret of Croatia-Slavonia's geographical importance lies in the
fact that it blocks Hungary's only access to the sea. The river Drave,
from the point where it leaves Austrian territory, to the point where it
flows into the Danube forms the northern boundary between Hungary
and Croatia, which is continued by the Danube as far as Semlin, opposite
Belgrad. At Semlin the southern frontier of Slavonia, towards Bosnia,
is formed by the Save, which joins the Danube at Belgrad. Further
west, the frontier at first follows the River Una (a tributary of the Save)
and then takes an irregular course, first south, then north-west, across
the Dinaric Alps to the Adriatic. The Croatian coastline extends from
Fiume (outside which town Istria and Croatia meet), for some ninety
miles in a south-easterly direction ; but the large islands of Veglia,
Arbe and Pago, which adjoin it, belong to the Austrian provinces of
Istria and Dalmatia.
Croatia-Slavonia thus falls naturally into two main divisions : (i)
the broad and fertile plains which lie between the Drave and Save,
interspersed by low hills in the neighbourhood of Pakrac and Pozega,
and (2) the lofty and barren mountain region which cuts ofE these plains
from the Adriatic, and whose two main ranges are the Kapela and
further south the Velebit Mountains.
Zagreb (Agram), the capital, lies above the River Save, on the last
low spurs of what are really the Styrian Alps ; for Zagreb is only
sixteen mUes from the Austrian frontier. Zagreb is a flourishing town
of over 80,000 inhabitants (61,002 in 1900), with a fine cathedral and
many handsome public buildings (the National Theatre, the Southern
Slav Academy, the University, the Art Galleries, the Chamber of Com-
merce, etc.). Osijek (Essek) the capital of Slavonia, has 25,000 inhabit-
ants ; all the other towns are small, 82 per cent, of the population being
engaged in agricultural pursuits.* For administrative purposes Croatia
is divided into five counties (Zagreb, Modrus-Fiume, Lika-Krbava,
Varazdin, and Bjelovar), Slavonia into three counties (Virovitica
(Verocze), Pozega and Syrmia (Srijem, Szerem). Zagreb is the seat
of an Archbishop ; the two remaining dioceses are Zengg (Senj) and
Djakovo, in the latter of which Bosnia was included until the erection
of an archiepiscopal see in Sarajevo (1882). The bishops of Zagreb and
Djakovo dispose over enormous revenues. The little town of Karlovci
(Karlowitz) on the Danube is the seat of the Serb Orthodox Patriarch,
*t According to census of 1900. See Ung. Stai Jahrbuchlxii, p. 21.
3
GEOGRAPHICAL AND STATISTICAL NOTE
who is metropolitan of all the Serbs of Transleithania, and has under
him the bishoprics of Pakrac (Slavonia), Karlovac (Croatia), Versecz,
Temesvar, Neusatz and Of en (Buda).
Agriculture is the main occupation of the people ; but the timber
industry is also of importance, there being 3,734,000 acres covered by
forest in the year 1895.^ Factories are few and far between.
The railways of Croatia are under the control of the Hungarian State,
and are constructed and managed in the interests of Budapest and in
open defiance of the pressing needs of Croatia. The sole artery of any
importance is that which runs through Zagreb, Karlovac (Karlstadt)
and Ogulin to Fiume. To this everything is sacrificed. Between Fiume
and Agram there is no sideline connecting with Austria. On the line
connecting Agram with Steinbriick on the Siidbahn, there are no ex-
press trains ; while through Nagykanizsa and Steinamanger (the direct
route to Vienna) there is no quick service during the daytime. The
direct connexion between Agram and Graz has hitherto been prevented,
despite Croatia's urgent need for improved access to the markets of Styria.
South of Ogulin there is no railway at all. The settled policy of the
Magyar Government has hitherto prevented the establishment of a
railway connexion between Croatia and Dalmatia, between Croatia
and Western Bosnia, between Bosnia and Dalmatia. The connexion
between Zagreb and Belgrad is better, but everything is done to force
all commerce and traffic between Austria and Bosnia to go by Budapest
to Bosnisch-Brod instead of by the much shorter and more natural route
through Zagreb.
The total population of Croatia-Slavonia amounted in 1900 to 2,400,766,
an increase of 688,413 in twenty years. Of these, 1,482,353 were Croats,
607,381 Serbs — or a total of 2,089,734 Serbo-Croats, as opposed to
311,032 of other races (including 90,180 Magyars and 134,000 Germans).
By religion, 1,710,425 were Roman Catholics, 612,604 Serb Orthodox,
43,628 Protestant and 20,032 Jewish.
B. Southern Hungary.
According to the census of 1900 there were 434,641 Serbs in Hungary
proper. The mere fact that this involves a decrease of 60,492 since
1880 shows that these statistics must be treated with extreme caution.
The Serbs are strongest in three counties : Torontal 183,771 (or 31-2
per cent) ; Bacs-Bodrog 114,685 (or 19 per cent.), and Temes 85,000
(or 21-4 per cent.). Their chief centre is Neusatz (Novi Sad, Ujvidek)
on the Danube, opposite the great fortress of Peterwardein ; but though
the home of the Srpska Matica (Serb literary Academy), a Serb gym-
nasium and two Serb newspapers, this town has lost its Serb character,
at the expense of the Magyar and German elements. Other South
Hungarian towns where there is a considerable Serb element are
Zombor, Temesvar, Pancsova, Versecz and Beckerek.
The Croats in Hungary proper amount to 188,552, or only i*i of the
total population. Their settlements lie for the most part along the
frontier of Croatia and Styria, in the counties of Zala (84,356) and Vas
(17,847), and even as far north as Oedenburg (Sopron) (30,342). The
former county includes the so-called " Medjumurje " — the district lying
between the Rivers Drave and Mur and the Styrian frontier— -which has
5 Enc. Brit. p. 472.
4
DALMATIA
been a continual bone of contention between Hungary and Croatia.
The Magyar Government, while steadily erecting fresh Magyar schools
in Croatia and Slavonia through the medium of the Julian Society, has
on the other hand, succeeded in almost entirely rooting out the Croat
schools of Hungary. At present only four are left.
C. IsTRiA (1,908 square miles).
Istria is after Trieste, Gorz and Vorarlberg, the smallest of the seven-
teen Austrian provinces. It consists of a pear-shaped peninsula, extend-
ing from the suburbs of Trieste to the suburbs of Fiume. Its northern
boundary adjoins the provinces of Trieste (Kiistenland), Gorz and
Carniola. Pola, the capital, a strong naval base and dockyard, with
45,052 inhabitants, lies close to Cape Promontore, the southernmost
extremity of Istria. It possesses a local Diet of thirty-three members,
sitting at Parenzo.
Its total population amounted in 1900 to 335,965, of whom 38 per
cent. (136,191) were Italians, 15 per cent. (47,717) Slovenes and 45
per cent. (143,057) Croats. All are Roman Catholics. The western
coastline from Trieste to Pola is almost entirely Italian ; the uplands of
the north-west are Slovene, while the eastern half of the peninsula and
the islands of Cherso and Veglia are Croat almost to a man. There is
a curious little enclave of Roumanians, who settled in Istria during the
Middle Ages and still preserve their identity.
D. Dalmatia (4,923 square miles).
The kingdom of Dalmatia, though de jure ^?irt of the Triune kingdom :
of Croatia-Slavonia-Dalmatia, has de facto been in the possession of
Austria since the expulsion of the French in 18 15. Dalmatia is little
more than a strip of coastline, flanked by innumerable islands ; its
greatest breadth is forty miles, and in many places it is as narrow as
one to ten miles. Its greatest length, from the islands of the Quarnero
to the fortress of Spizza on the Montenegrin frontier, is 210 miles. It
is a land of striking contrasts, from the barren mountain barriers of
Mosor and Orjen, where the peasantry live under the most adverse
possible circumstances and where there is scarcely any soil to cultivate,
to the fertile vineyards of the coast and the larger islands.
Zara (Zadar), the capital (with 16,000 inhabitants), is the seat of the
Diet, the Governor, and the Archbishop and is an important garrison
town ; its chief industry is the production of maraschino. Spalato
(Split), with a population of 24,000, is already the chief commercial port
between Fiume and Patras, and is growing every year. It is the natural
outlet for the trade of Bosnia, and has an important future before it,
when once the sorely-needed railway connexion has been established
between Dalmatia and the outer world. Sebenico (Sibenik) with 11,000
inhabitants, is an important naval base, whose value is enhanced by
the great waterfalls of the Krka River. Ragusa (Dubrovnik, 10,000),
with its harbour of Gravosa, at present forms the Bosnian railway's
first outlet to the Adriatic, and attracts by its beauty and antiquities a
growing number of foreign visitors. The Bocche, or narrows ofCattaro,
with the little town nestling under precipitous crags, is one of the
most impregnable natural harbours on the Mediterranean and serves
5
GEOGRAPHICAL AND STATISTICAL NOTE
as a strong Austrian naval base. The principal islands are Brazza (170
square miles), Lesina, Lissa, Curzola, Meleda, Pago and Arbe.
At two separate points — near the mouth of the River Narenta, and
at Castelnuovo in the Bocche — Herzegovina reaches the sea for a few
miles, thus indicating the ancient boundaries between Turkish and Vene-
tian territory. Neither strip possesses a harbour of any consequence,
though Castelnuovo, as the terminus of the railway which links Austria's
southernmost naval base with the rest of the monarchy, has a certain
strategic importance.
The Dalmatian Croats are one of the finest seafaring races in Europe,
and the cream of the Austro-Hungarian navy is recruited from among
them. Owing to the poverty of the soil, and the neglected state of the
province, most of which has no railway connexions with the rest of
Europe and at whose expense the last Austro-Italian commercial treaty
was concluded, emigration is widely prevalent ; and there are certain
districts, notably the peninsula of Sabbioncello and the island of Curzola,
where a large proportion of the male inhabitants can speak English,
having either served on British ships or spent some years in America,
New Zealand, Queensland or South Africa.
In 1900 the total population amounted to 584,823, of whom only
15,279 were Italians ; of the remaining 97 per cent. (565,276), 80 per
cent, were Croats and 16 per cent. Serbs. The rapidity with which
the Italian element has decayed during the last thirty years is shown
by the example of Lesina. In 1880 as many as 314 per 1,000 of the
inhabitants appeared in the census as Italians ; in 1890 there were
only 27 Italians left.* But Italy has left a permanent impress upon
the culture, the architecture and the commerce of Dalmatia and will
long remain the lingua franca of the coast towns. In Dalmatia as
elsewhere among the Serbo-Croats, religion is the only real distin-
guishing feature between the two races ; the Croats are Roman Catholic,
the Serbs are Orthodox. Zara is the seat of a Catholic Archbishop, and
there are no fewer than six other bishoprics — Sebenico, Spalato, Lesina,
Makarska, Ragusa and Cattaro. The ancient Slavonic liturgy known as
the Glagolitic rite, is still in use in several hundred churches along the
Adriatic ; but the recognition which Bishop Strossmayer's influence had
won for it under Leo XIII, was partially withdrawn by the fanatical
Jesuit advisers of the present Pope. At present the controversy is
dormant ; but so strong is the affection for the Slav rite that among the
Dalmatian peasantry an application of the clumsy tactics for which
Vatican diplomacy has become a byeword in the last eight years, might
easily provoke a movement for union with the Orthodox Church. The
Orthodox Church in Dalmatia has bishops at Zara and Cattaro, its
membership being strongest in the extreme north and the extreme south.
Strangely enough, it is in connexion with the Orthodox Metropolitan of
Bukovina, not with those of Bosnia or Servia. The language of the
administration and of education is Serbo-Croat ; in the chief towns the
Italian language enjoys equal rights.
E. Bosnia and Herzegovina (19,696 square miles).
The two sister provinces of Bosnia and Herzego\'ina are bounded by
Croatia-Slavonia on the north, by Dalmatia on the west, by Servia,
* Auerbach, Les Races et nationaliUs en Atilriche-Hongrie, p. 221.
6
BOSNIA-HERZEGOVINA
Turkey and Montenegro on the east, and are roughly shaped Hke a heart,
which tapers to a narrow point near Castelnuovo (Zelenikaj on the
Bocche di Cattaro. Though both are mountainous throughout — form-
ing the highlands of the Dinaric Alps, they still show considerable
differences of soil and climate. Bosnia, which is more than twice as
large as Herzegovina, belongs entirely to the central European system,
its chief rivers, the Drina (forming the frontier with Servia), the Bosna,
the Vrbas and the Una, all flowing northwards into the Save. Herze-
govina, on the other hand, lies to the south of the high watershed formed
by the peaks of Konjica and Prozor ; and its only important river, the
Narenta, forces its way through a splendid defile until it reaches the
Adriatic beyond the wide marshes of Metkovic and Fort Opus.
In Bosnia the vegetation is later, and the cold in winter is extreme ;
while in Herzego\dna the heat of summer is semi-tropical. Eighty-eight
per cent, of the population are engaged in agriculture or forestry. The
magnificent forests, entirely neglected under the Turks, have been to some
extent exploited by foreign firms since the Austrian occupation. The
burning agrarian question has also been left unsolved for thirty years ;
but the first step was taken in April 191 1, when the new Diet sanctioned a
partial scheme of land purchase. Before criticising the Government too
severely for its agrarian and educational omissions, it must be remem-
bered that the army of occupation found a savage wilderness, where
the dreadful blight of Ottoman rule had lain for centuries, and a begin-
ning had to be made with such elementary requirements as houses,
roads and railways. Too little effort has been made to win the hearts
of the people ; but no sane critic can deny the enormous advance in
material prosperity made since 1877. Nothing can be more striking
than the contrast between Belgrade, which has enjoyed virtual inde-
pendence for close upon 100 years, and Sarajevo, which thirty years ago
was on a level with Broussa or Erzeroum. To-day Sarajevo, with its
clean streets and handsome public buildings, entirely eclipses the Servian
capital. In 1895 Sarajevo had 41,543 inhabitants, but its population
is now estimated at 60,000. It is the seat of the Governor (Landes-
chef), the provincial government with its four departments of the
Interior, Education, Finance and Justice, and since 1910 of the pro-
vincial Diet.
Sarajevo and Mostar, the capital of Herzegovina (with over 17,000
inhabitants), are important garrison towns, as also are the frontier for-
tresses of Trebinje, Bilek, Foca and Visegrad. The only other town of
any size is Banjaluka, in the northwest, the terminus of a line origin-
ally designed by the Turks to connect Europe with Salonica, but soon
abandoned like most Turkish designs.
The population of Bosnia-Herzegovina amounted at the census of
1895 "to 1,568,092, and is now estimated at 1,800,000. Of these, at
least 96 per cent, are Serbo-Croats.
The attempt of the late Baron Kallay to create an artificial " Bosnian '
language was merely a skilful manoeuvre, intended to hamper the pro-
moters of Serbo-Croat Unity ; it in no way corresponds to the true
facts of the case. The entire native population of the two provinces — •
with the exception of the 8,000 Jews of the capital — is Serbo-Croat by
origin and by language. But as in other Balkan countries, the line of
cleavage has hitherto been religious rather than racial. Thus divided,
the population is as follows :
7
GEOGRAPHICAL AND STATISTICAL NOTE
Orthodox ....... 670,000
Mohammedan ...... 550,000
Roman Catholics ...... 334,000
All the Orthodox, without exception, regard themselves as Serbs, all
the Roman Catholics as Croats. The Mohammedans, on the other
hand, — the descendants of the old Slav nobility which foreswore its
faith in order to retain its lands — have no strong national consciousness,
and are content to remain merely Bosnians. But for the unwise and
ineffective proselytism of Archbishop Stadler, the Moslems might ere
now have joined the Croat camp ; and signs are not wanting that such
a process may take place during the next few years.
The Serb Orthodox Church is under a metropolitan in Sarajevo and
three bishops in Mostar, Banjaluka and Tuzla. The Roman Catholics
also have an Archbishop in Sarajevo and bishops in Mostar and Ban-
jaluka ; bnt the real backbone of Catholicism in Bosnia is the
Franciscan Order, which always identified itself with the popular
cause during the Turkish occupation, and still follows with effect its
democratic methods. The Vakuf, a wealthy fund, from which the
Moslem clergy are paid, has its central offices in Sarajevo ; the ecclesias-
tical affairs of the Moslems are controlled by the central committee
(Medzlis) of four members, under the Reis-iil-Ulema, all of whom are
nominated by the Government.
The language of administration, of the Courts,' of education and of
the Diet is Serbo-Croat.
Sarajevo contains over 8,000 Spagnolan or Sephardic Jews, the descen-
dants of refugees from Spanish persecution in the sixteenth century,
and like their kinsmen in Salonica still speaking a mixed Italo-Spanish
dialect, in which numerous Slav and Turkish words occur.
F. Servia (18,782 square mUes).
The kingdom of Servia is bounded on the north by the Save and the
Danube, at whose junction lies the capital, Belgrad, on a ridge com-
manding an extensive view of the plains of Syrmia and the Banat.
The Western, or Bosnian frontier, follows the winding course of the
River Drina, the chief tributary of the Save. On the south and south-
east lies Macedonia, its northern division, the Sanjak of Novibazar,
interposing awedge of Turkish territory between Servia and Montenegro.
On the east Servia is separated from Roumania by the Danube, from
Bulgaria by the little river Timok and then by an irregular mountain-
ous boundary to a point south-east of Vranja where Turkey, Servia
and Bulgaria meet. The greater part of Servia is mountainous, but
its peaks are lower and less barren than those of Bosnia and Montenegro.
Its main artery, the river Morava, flows from Vranja on the Turkish
frontier, into the Danube east of Semendria, and forms the sole link
connecting Europe with the port of Salonica and the Aegean.
The capital, Belgrad, had 69,097 inhabitants in 1900, and to-day over
90,000 ; but despite its fine situation, it has no fine streets or public
buildings, and cannot be compared in any way to the rival Southern Slav
cities of Zagreb, Sarajevo and Fiume. There are no large towns in
'' Though German litigants can obtain justice in their own tongue.
8
SERVIA
Servia, Nis coming second with 24,451, Kragujevac third, with
14,160 inhabitants.* The great mass of the population lives upon the
son.
While in Bosnia the Serb nobles accepted Islam in order to save their
estates, the nobility of Servia was extirpated by the Turks ; and the
modern kingdom is composed of peasant proprietors, with only a small
middle class. Even more important than agriculture is the pig-feeding
industry, to which the chief families of the country owe their rise, and
which has more than once had a decisive influence upon its foreign policy.
After 350 years of Turkish rule, Servia asserted her autonomous posi-
tion in 1 81 7, and thirteen years later became an hereditary principality
under the Obrenovitch dynasty. Its progress has been seriously ham-
pered by the evil rivalry of the two native dynasties of Obrenovitch
and Karageorgevitch, a rivalry which has been marked by a series of
atrocious crimes. In 1819 Kara George was murdered by the orders of
Milosch Obrenovitch, and in 1867 the murder was avenged upon the
latter's son. Prince Michael, the ablest ruler whom modern Servia has
produced. Michael's nephew Milan inherited much of his uncle's
brilliancy and statesmanship ; but though he set the seal to Servia's
independenceand proclaimed her asa kingdom, the erraticand scandalous
habits of his private life undermined his position and finally led him to ab-
dicate in favour of his only son Alexander (March 3, 1889). The last and
most unfortunateof the Obrenovitch dynasty was also by no means devoid
of talent ; but a faulty education and the evil example of his parents
rendered stability of character impossible. A passion for coup d'etats
and his foolish marriage with Draga Masin made Servda the pariah of
European royalty and led to the inevitable catastrophe. On June 11,
1903, a gang of officers in uniform brutally murdered the King and
Queen ; and a few days later, the Pretender, Prince Peter Karageorge-
vic, whom scandal accused of complicity in the murder, as in the
death of Prince Michael thirty-six years before — was proclaimed King
as Peter I.
The liberal constitution which King Milan had granted in 1889 and
which his son arbitrarily superseded five years later, was now restored ;
and since then, whatever may be said of Peter Karageorgevic, he has
fully earned the title of Ser\'ia's first constitutional sovereign. Unhap-
pily, the corruption which had already deeply infected Servian public
life, has gathered strength from the rivalry of regicides and anti-regi-
cides. The Radical party, which has dominated Servia since the assas-
sination, has shown leanings for an adventurous foreign policy, but the
country entirely lacks either the resources or the energy to carry it
into effect. The megalomania which led public opinion to compare
Servia with Austria-Hungary, was responsible for the cruel but inevit-
able disillusionment of March 1909.*
Since the outbreak of the tariff war (1907) Servia has been able
to emancipate herself to some extent from the economic thraldom
of the Dual Monarchy, and to find new markets for her produce. But
the absence of direct railway connexions with the West, the huge
burdens which her army imposes upon her, and the bad state of her
finances, fatally handicap Servia in her efforts to keep abreast of
s Po2arevac, Leskovac, Sabac, Vranja, Pirot and Krulevac also exceed 10,000
inhabitants.
^ See Chapter i.\.
9
GEOGRAPHICAL AND STATISTICAL NOTE
other Balkan states. While Bulgaria and Roumania have a bright
future before them, and have progressed during the last generation
by leaps and bounds, Servia, on the other hand, has been at the
mercy of rival dynastic and party feuds and occupies a position between
the upper and the nether millstone.
The population of Servia amounted in 1900 to 2,493,770, and is calcu-
lated at 2,750,000 in 1910. Of these, over 90 per cent, are Serbs ; but
there are at least 200,000 Roumanians in the north-east district adjoin-
ing Negotin, and no fewer than 47,000 gipsies. Almost the entire popu-
lation belongs to the Orthodox Church, which has a Metropolitan in
Belgrad and four bishops at NiS (south), Sabac (north-west), Uzice
(west) and Negotin (east). Like other would-be " national " states,
Servia is not specially tolerant of other races or creeds. The Roumani-
ans of East Servia are not allowed to employ their own language in the
schools, and in some cases not even in the churches. Though religious
liberty is guaranteed by law, the Roman Catholic Church is virtually
proscribed in Servia ; though it is fair to add that this is a form of
retaliation against the Catholic propaganda in Bosnia and other Orthodox
countries. That intolerance does exist in Servia, is best proved by the
treatment of the great Southern Slav patriot Bishop Strossmayer, to
whose diocese the Catholics of Belgrad belong.
Education in Servia is also extremely backward. Though by law
primary education is free and compulsory, only 17 per cent, of the
population could read and write in 1910.1° In such circumstances
the outcry raised in Belgrad against the backward state of Bosnian
education, would appear to be somewhat uncalled for.
G. Montenegro (3,255 square miles).
The other independent Serb state is the little principality of Mon-
tenegro, proclaimed a kingdom in 19 10, on the occasion of Prince
Nicholas' Jubilee. Little as it is, it was even smaller before the year
1880, when it first gained access to the sea at Dulcigno and Antivari.
Its natural harbour, Cattaro, has become an important Austrian naval
base : the roadstead of Antivari is commanded by the Austrian guns at
Spizza. This harbour, of which so much is vaguely written in West
Europe, is only accessible by a steep mountain railway (built by an
Italian company) which climbs up 3,000 feet from Virpazar on the Lake
of Skutari, merely in order to descend still more abruptly to the sea.
Whatever it may become in the future, its present traf&c, both by sea
and by rail, is far less important than that of Mallaig, on the West
Highland Railway ! Dulcigno and the only promising connexion be-
tween the coast and the interior would appear to be the regulation of the
River Bojana, which connects the lake and town of Skutari with the sea,
and forms for part of its course the southern frontier of Montenegro.
For this the co-operation of Turkey is required ; and as Turkey has
never done anything for Albania, she is less likely than ever to do so now.
The only hope is that the present movement in Albania may lead to an
extension of Montenegrin territory to the south.
The existing frontier, after leaving the Bojana, crosses the centre of
the Lake of Skutari, and then follows an irregular north-easterly direc-
10 Encycl. Brit, (nth ed.) xxiv. p. 690.
10
MONTENEGRO
tion to a point only ten miles west of Ipek (Pec in northern Macedonia.
From here it proceeds northwest, bounding with the Sandjak of No-vi-
bazar, until it reaches Herzegovina ; for nearly fifty miles it follows the
course of the river Tara. On the west it is bounded by Herzegovina and
Dalmatia, the latter country tapering into a narrow strip of land thirty
mUes long by barely four miles broad, from Cattaro to Spizza.
Cetinje, the tiny capital, had 5,138 inhabitants in 1907 (including the
foreign residents). Podgorica, on the Moraca river, with 12,347 inhabit-
ants, Niksic with 6,872, andDulcigno with 5,166 are the chief commercial
centres.
The total population in igoo was estimated at 311,564," of whom all
save an infinitesimal number are Serb by nationality and Orthodox by
religion. The barren nature of the country — the southern half is a
mere rocky wilderness, though round Niksic there is good corn land ^^ —
has driven increasing numbers to emigrate ; and the return of such as
make their fortune, is naturally effecting the same transformation of the
old national ideas as is noticeable in Hungary, Dalmatia and other
primitive countries where emigration and reimmigration is prevalent.
The Petrovic d^Tiasty, which has ruled Montenegro since the year
1696, was originally a race of prince-bishops, or Vladikas, in which the
nephew followed the uncle. It has produced more than one remark-
able figure — Peter I (i 782-1 830), who won from the Turks a definite
recognition of Montenegrin independence and temporarily occupied the
Bocche di Cattaro ; Peter II (1830-1851), who holds a foremost place
among Servian poets ; and not least of all. Prince, now King, Nicholas,
who has reigned since i860. As a mountain fastness, where war against
the Turks has for centuries been the main business of life, Montenegro
had no need for a prince who was not at the same time an autocrat ;
and it was not till 1905 that the country obtained a constitution. Even
since then the old methods have survived in a thinly-disguised form ;
and since the notorious Treason Trial of 1908, ministers have been mere
creatures of the Prince, and representative government little better
than a farce. To those who insist upon judging Montenegro by the
standards of the twentieth century in Paris or London, King Nicholas
may well seem a monster of reaction. In reality he and his state still
belong to the heroic Middle Ages, and need not fear comparison with
the warriors of Bruce, Du Guesclin or John Hunyady. Under Nicholas'
successors an era of transition must set in ; Montenegro will be adapted
to Western conditions and will doubtless lose in the process many of
its primitive virtues.
The Orthodox Church of Montenegro consists of two dioceses, Cetinje
and Ostrog. In striking contrast to Servia, where no Catholic hierarchy
is tolerated, there is a Catholic Archbishop at Antivari (Bar), with ten
parishes and about 6,000 adherents.
H. Turkey.
In dealing with the Serb population, we are confronted by the com-
plete absence of reliable statistics. The Hamidian regime did not trouble
about censuses, and such estimates as exist are almost avowedly based
^^ Encycl. Brit, xviii. p. 768.
!• Yet Montenegro, despite its small population, has to import corn.
GEOGRAPHICAL AND STATISTICAL NOTE
upon the wishes of their compilers, Greek, Serb or Bulgar as the case
might be, rather than on the actual facts of the case. The Macedonian
practice of the forcible conversion of villages by the rival bands, has
still further complicated the problem, until it is by no means easy to form
any definite judgment, even upon seemingly first-hand evidence, as to
the true nationality of many districts. Roughly speaking, the territory
inhabited by Serbs comprises the whole Sandjak of Novibazar (which
separates Servia from Montenegro and was from 1878 to igo8 garri-
soned by Austrian troops), the district of Ipek, Jakova and Prisrend
(from the Sandjak as far south as the river Drin) ; and the plain of
Kossovo, from Mitrovica on the north extending through Pristina and
Uskiib to Istib on the south. South and east of this point there may be
isolated Serb colonies ; but if so, they are doomed to rapid absorption
by the Bulgar element. Even in the neighbourhood of Prisrend the
Serbs are steadily losing ground at the expense of the Albanians. Since
the accession of King Peter, Servia has made more desperate efforts than
ever to arrest the fatal process in Macedonia which is destined some day
to decide the struggle of races in favour of Bulgar and Albanian, and
against Serb and Greek. But the efforts of the Servian bands have not
as a rule been successful. While the Serbs talk and sentimentalize,
the Bulgars act and the Albanians shoot.
If the total population of Macedonia be reckoned at 2,500,000, the
most liberal allowance cannot assign more than 400,000 of these (includ-
ing 100,000 Moslems) to the Serb element.
A general survey of the Croato-Serb race may be obtained from the
following table : —
Catholic.
Orthodox. Mohammedan.
Istria ....
Dalmatia
Croatia-Slavonia
Bosnia-Herzegovina
Hungary.
Servia ....
Montenegro .
Turkey ....
200,000
500,000
1,750,000
400,000
250,000
10,000
10,000
100,000
650,000
850,000
500,000
2,600,000
280,000
300,000
650,000
10,000
100,000
3,120,000
(34P-C.)
5,280,000
(58 p.c.)
760,000
(8 p.c.)
Croats and Serbs in Europe 9,160,000
„ ,, in America 300,000
9,460,000
12
Pronunciation.
c =ts in the English
« = ch
d -=t
gj = J >>
" lots "
" church "
" tune "
' June "
Ij
nj
S
■= gl in the Italian
= gn
■= sh in the English
= j in the French
" meglio
" degno
" show "
" jour
J -=7
' yet "
vj
= vi in the EngUsh'
view "
all other letters as in English.
13
CHAPTER I
Croatia from the Earliest Times till 1848
Regnum Regno non praescribit leges.
THE modern Croats, although they occupy the ancient terri-
tory of the lUyrians, trace their descent not from these re-
doubtable opponents of Roman rule upon the Adriatic, but from
one of the Slavonic tribes which followed in the rear of the ad-
vancing Lombards and Avars. From the scanty records which
have survived, it would seem probable that the Chrobati or
Chorvati were invited by the Emperor Heraclius to free Illyria
from the Avars (634) and that, after the completion of their
task, they remained for many generations as the nominal
vassals of the Eastern Empire. About the same time a kin-
dred Slavonic tribe, the Serbs, were encouraged to settle
further to the east, and thus became masters of the greater
part of the modern Servia, Bosnia and Montenegro, with a
coastline stretching roughly from Almissa to Durazzo. In the
maritime towns of Dalmatia Roman institutions and Roman
culture survived until the rise of Venice as a sea-power finally
prevented Dalmatia from drifting out of the sphere of Western
civilization. Had it not been for Venice there can be little
doubt that the eastern Adriatic would have been lost to Rome.
For when the Exarchate of Ravenna was conquered by the
Lombards (752), Zara had become the Byzantine headquarters
on the Adriatic ; and, although the civil authority of the
Emperor grew every year more shadowy, the influence of the
Eastern Church was very far from nominal. The final schism
between east and west coincides with the first mission of the
great Slav apostles, Cyril and Methodius, (865-885), and
explains the readiness with which Rome recognized their intro-
duction of a Slav liturgy. This momentous concession was,
it is true, revoked soon after the death of Methodius ; but a
thousand years of opposition on the part of Rome have not
availed to extirpate the Slav liturgy. The mountainous
15
CROATIA BEFORE 1849
character of the country, the vicinity of the Serbs, and at a
later date the rise of the Bogumile heresy in Bosnia, kept the
ancient traditions ahve ; and when the national revival of the
nineteenth century once more directed attention to the subject,
the Glagolitic rite was still in use in several hundred parishes in
Dalmatia, Istria and Southern Croatia.
Thus from the very outset the most marked feature in
Southern Slav history is its dual character. The struggle
between Latin and Slav culture, between the traditions of
Rome and Byzantium, made itself continually felt alike in
Church and in state, and led to an estrangement between the
kindred races of Croat and Serb, which rendered their national
consolidation impossible and made the two rivals the prey of
foreign conquerors. Not till the nineteenth century did they
begin to comprehend the simple truth that union is strength.
The conquests of Charles the Great had shown the Croats
that they had little to fear from Constantinople, and under his
degenerate successors they felt themselves strong enough (or
remote enough) to defy both empires. During the first quarter
of the t mth century Duke Tomislav assumed the royal title,^
recognizing, like St. Stephen of Hungary three generations
later, the suzerainty of the Papal See ; and the most famous of
his successors, Zvonimir, actually received the crown in Spalato
from the hands of the Legate of Gregory VII (1076). But
Zvonimir's greatness died with him. The extinction of the
national dynasty plunged Croatia into civil war, and in 1102
the Croat nobles recognized Coloman King of Hungary as their
sovereign. Coloman asserted the triple claims of conquest,
inheritance and election. His own armies had completed the
half-finished work of his uncle Ladislas I : the widow of the
childless Zvonimir had been a Hungarian princess, and Colo-
man now wisely set a seal to these doubtful pretensions by his
coronation at Zaravecchia and by the assumption of the title
" Rex Hungariae Croatiae at que Dalmatiae."
It would be a mistake to suppose that the mutual relations of
Hungary and Croatia had already been closely defined under
Coloman ; but there is abundant evidence that the great king,
following the tolerant traditions of the House of Arpid, re-
spected the privileges and independent position of Croatia,
1 In the decrees of a council held at Spalato in the year 914, in the
presence of the Legate of Pope John X., Tomislav already bears the
title of Chroatorum Rex. Kukuljevic, Jura Regni Croatiae Dalmatiae
et Slavoniae, i. p. 8, copied from Farlati, Illyricum Sacrum, iii. p. 93.
16
CROATIA UNDER LOUIS THE GREAT
and that as yet the sole Hnk between the two kingdoms was
the person of the monarch. During the two centuries follow-
ing upon the Union, more than one Hungarian sovereign en-
trusted his son with the government of Croatia.^ It is true
that the practice of a separate coronation as King of Croatia
was gradually allowed to fall into abeyance ; but that this did
not involve the incorporation of Croatia in Hungary is shown
by the fact that in 1301, on the extinction of the House of
Arpad, the Croatians crowned the Angevin prince Charles
Robert as their king in the Cathedral of Zagreb (Agram) , while
Hungary elected first the King of Bohemia and then Otto of
Bavaria. It was not till six years later that the recognition of
Charles Robert by the Hungarians restored the personal union
between the two kingdoms. But under Charles Robert's son
Louis the Great, Hungary reached the zenith of her power and
Croatia sank, in fact, if perhaps not in theory, to the rank of a
vassal state. Louis showed special favour to Bosnia, whose
Ban he allowed to assume the royal title (1376), partly, no doubt,
from family reasons, for his wife was a cousin of the Ban Stephen
Tvrtko, but probably still more from strategic reasons, since
Bosnia was a valuable outpost against Servia, which under
Stephen Dushan (1336-1356) had become the most formidable
Balkan state. On the other hand Louis brought nothing but
misery upon Croatia and DaLmatia, by his ruthless infringe-
ment of ancient charters, and his continual wars with Venice
and Naples. This may perhaps account for the zeal with
which the sister kingdoms abandoned Louis' daughter Mary
and supported the candidature of Charles of Durazzo, King of
Naples, and later on of his son Ladislas, whose coronation as
King of Hungary and Croatia took place at Zara in 1403.
While the weak successors of Louis the Great became in-
volved in internecine war, Stephen Tvrtko was raising the
^ See Farlati, Illyricum Sacntm, T. v. p. 65, cit. Kukuljcvic,
op. cit. vol. i, p. 35. A Spalatan Charter of 1194 contains the phrase,
" Regnante Domino nostro Bela, Serenissimo Rege Hungariae Dal-
matiae Croatiae atque Ramae et Almerico (Emerich) filio super
Dalmatiam et Chroatiam." Ibid, ex tabulario Jadertino. "Anno
1 195. Regnante D. N. Bela Ungariae Dalmatiae Ramae Rege, et
Enrico (i.e. Emerich) eius filio, bis coronato, Dalmatiam et Croatiam
feliciter gubernante. . . ." In 1198 and 1199 Bela III.'s other son.
Prince Andrew, as Duke of Dalmatia and Croatia, grants charters to
the Archbishop of Spalato. (" Ego Andreas tertii Belae Regis filius,
Dei gratia Dalmatiae Croatiae Ramae Chulmaeque Dux in per-
petuum ") Kuknljcvnc, i. pp. 36-7.
S.S.Q. 17 C
CROATIA BEFORE 1849
Bosnian kingdom to a position of importance. In the very
year when Servia's greatness was overthrown by the Turks on
the fatal field of Kossovo (1389) Tvrtko, intent upon his own
aggrandisement, gained possession of the whole Dalmatian
littoral from Zara to Cattaro. But his greatness did not sur-
vive his death in 1391. The Republic of Venice and the King
of Naples were soon the only serious rivals for the spoils of
Dalmatia. The Magyar nobility's opposition to a foreign
king, the decisive advantage which Venice derived from her
navy, and the first mutterings of the Turkish storm, gradually
withdrew Hungary from the competition.
The failure of Ladislas to make good his claims marks an era
in Croatian history out of all proportion to the trivial charac-
ter of the Neapolitan King. For in 1409 Venice bought from
him what remained of his Dalmatian possessions, and by 1420
practically the whole Dalmatian coast, with the exception of
the little Republic of Ragusa, was in her hands. Hencefor-
ward Croatia and Dalmatia remain apart. The fringe of coast
remained for almost three centuries a Venetian colony, systema-
tically neglected and exploited and used merely as a stepping-
stone to the Levant. The whole Hinterland gradually fell into
Turkish hands, until the Crescent waved over the fortress of
Clissa, in full sight of Spalato. By comparison with the rest
of the Balkans, Dalmatia seemed to enjoy a high level of cul-
ture ; but in reality it was already stagnant and living upon
its past. The Republic of Ragusa alone shone like a beacon
amid the surrounding gloom. Its poets, satirists and dramatic
writers — notably Gundulic, the famous author of Osman —
prepared the way for a renaissance of the Croat language and
of Serbo-Croatian national feeling in the nineteenth century.
Sigismund of Luxemburg, the successful rival of Ladislas,
showed a not unnatural resentment towards the subjects who
had so long disputed his title to the throne. From his reign
dates the final abandonment of a separate coronation ceremony
for Croatia ; henceforth the Holy Crown of St. Stephen was
held to be sufficient for the two kingdoms, and the mystic halo
with which long centuries of tradition have gradually surrounded
it, seemed in the eyes of the Magyars a symbol of inviolable
union between the two countries.
But while Croatia contented herself with a separate diploma
inaugurale ^ at each fresh accession, she had by no means
' The formal document embodying the King's oath and his subjects'
fealty and privileges.
1,8
THE BATTLE OF MOHACS
renounced her ancient independence, and reasserted her free-
dom of action on more than one important occasion. In 1490
the estates of Croatia declined to recognize Vladislav II until
he had taken oath to respect their liberties, and insisted upon
his erasing from the diploma certain phrases which seemed to
reduce Croatia to the rank of a mere pro\dnce.*
Far more conclusive, however, was the action of the Croats
after the battle of Mohacs (1526), where the Hungarian army-
was annihilated by the Turks and Louis II himself perished.
Central Hungary — the real Magyar kernel of the country —
became a Turkish province, Transylvania secured its independ-
ence by owTiing the Sultan's suzerainty, while the north and
east remained for fourteen years a bone of contention between
John Zapolya and Ferdinand of Habsburg. But Croatia had
not shared in the fatal defeat ; for the incapable Louis and his
arrogant nobles, unwilling to share with others the glory of
certain victory, had intentionally given battle two days before
the arrival of the Croatian arm}^^ While Hungary fell a prey
to anarchy and a contested succession, the Croatian Diet sitting
at Cetin on January i, 1527, unanimously elected Ferdinand
of Austria as their king, and confirmed the succession to him
and his heirs.' Thus while in Hungary the Crown remained
elective till 1687, it had already become hereditary in Croatia
160 years earlier.
* See Kukuljei-ic, iii. p. 9. The original diploma ran,? " Regnum
Ungariae cum ceteris regnis et partibus subjectis." The final version,
as accepted by the Croats in 1492 and inserted in the Corpus Juris
Hungarici, ran as follows : " Regnum Ungariae cum caeteris regnis
scilicet Dalmatiae Croatiae et Slavoniae et partibus Transylvanis ac
provinciis sibi subjectis."'
* An interesting sidelight is thrown upon the relations between
Magyars and Croats in the sixteenth century by the letter which the
Ban, Krsto Frankopan, \\Tote to the Bishop of Zengg on September 15,
1526, upon the first (and incomplete) news of the Battle of Mohacs
" Since the king has escaped, God Almighty has clearly permitted this
defeat of the king and the Hungarians, not for the misfortune and ruin
of this country, but on the contrary for its lasting salvation. For if
the Hungarians had now defeated the emperor (i.e. Sultan) where would
have been the end of their unworthy aggression (rezenju, literally the
snarl of a quarrelsome dog), and who could have continued to exist
under them ? " Cit. Klaic, Povjest Hrvata, iii. pp. 357-S.
* On the other hand, the Estates of Slavonia [Universitas Begni
Sclavoniae) sitting in the Castle of Dubrava, elected John Zapolya
as their King (January 5, 1527) ; but the latter's chief supporter,
Krsto Frankopan falling in battle the following autumn, Zapolya soon
lost ground, and a new Diet at Krizevci (Kreuz) declared for Ferdinand.
19
CROATIA BEFORE 1849
The Sultan's overwhelming victory at Mohacs marked a
fresh stage in the westward advance of the Turks, who had been
a standing menace to Croatia ever since the conquest of Bosnia
by Mohammed II (1463). In 1528 the strong garrison town
of Jajce fell before the Turks and within a few years they
had captured Banjaluka and occupied the whole of Syrmia and
what is now known as Slavonia. Finally in 1537 the Crescent
gained entrance to the mountain fortress of Clissa, and thus
threatened Spalato and the coastline of mid-Dalmatia.
Though the position of Croatia was never so desperate as that
of the sister kingdom of Hungary, the struggle with the Turks
rendered all progress and real culture impossible, and effect-
ually undermined the prosperity of the country. The natural
result was a desperate Peasant Rising in the year 1573, which
still further weakened Croatia and was suppressed with the
utmost cruelty.
The Turkish danger and the increasingly despotic leanings
of the later Habsburgs drew Croatia and Hungary once more
together. Rudolf II's attempt to curtail the power of the
Ban ' induced the Sabor (Diet) to send its representatives
' The office of Ban is of great antiquity. That it already existed
under the native Croat dynasty is proved by its mention in a Diploma
of King Kresimir in 1063 (quoted by Lucius, the Dalmatian historian.
See Virozsil, ii. 335 n., 387). After the union in 1102 the Ban naturally
acquired greater importance, as the representative of the Royal power
in Croatia. At first all Croatia and Slavonia (which then denoted a
somewhat different territory) were under a single Ban ; but from time
to time, when special causes, such as Byzantine and Venetian aggres-
sion, impaired the authority of the Hungarian King, we meet with a
special Ban of Slavonia (Banus totius Slavoniae) and even a Banus
Maritimus [see Timon, Ungarische V erfassungsgeschichte, pp. 244-
50) ; but tlaese dignities were merely conferred temporarily. Pre-
vious to 1848 the Ban was, under the Crown, supreme alike in
the political, judicial and military spheres. He presided over the
Diets : he sat as Croat representative in the Hungarian Council
of Lieutenancy, after its formation ; he took precedence immedi-
ately after the Palatine and the Judex Curiae, and held the golden
apple at the Coronation ; he acted as President of the Banal Table,
the supreme Croatian Court, (from which there has been no appeal to
any Hungarian court, at any rate, since Louis the Great in 1359 recog-
nized Croatia's full judicial autonomy) and as such appointed the Vice-
Ban ; finally he commanded the military levies of Croatia-Slavonia
and the Croatian Military Frontiers. In accordance with the Compro-
mise of 1868, the Ban, though expressly made responsible to the Diet
of Agram (§§ 50, 51), became the nominee of the Hungarian Premier,
and as such, the representative of Budapest rather than of Agram
{see pp. 78-9).
20
CROATS AND MAGYARS
[sollemnes oratores et nuntii regni) to the Hungarian Diet, there
to defend the rights of Croatia (1591) ; and under Ferdinand
II the Ban, at the express desire of the Croats themselves, took
his seat for the first time in the Hungarian House of Magnates
(1625). That this did not involve the dependence of the Croa-
tian upon the Hungarian Diet, is clearly shown by the fact that
the former, in 1608, had formally ratified and accepted the
Treaty of Vienna, concluded between Matthias and the Magyars
for joint action against the Turks. Indeed, this exercise of
sovereign power on the part of Croatia seems to have been
treated at the time as a matter of course.^ Yet another striking
proof that the friendship prevailing between the Croats and
the Magyars did not in any way involve the former's subordin-
ation to the latter, is supplied by the action of the Croatian
Diet in the year 1620, in entering upon " a mutual bond of
union and confederation " with the Provinces of Styria, Carin-
thia and Carniola.^ The Hungarian Parliament was neither
consulted, nor did it raise any protest against the Croats'
independent attitude.
This period of unruffled amity between the two races is per-
sonified in the splendid figure of Count Nicholas Zrinski (known
by the Magyars as Zrinyi) (1620-1664), who though a patriotic
Croat, composed the first great epic poem in the Magyar lan-
guage,i° and left to the Magyars a still more precious legacy
in his niece's child, Francis Rakoczy, the now half-legendary
forerunner of Louis Kossuth. The modern Chauvinist of Buda-
' Kukuljevic, op. cit. ii, pp. 66-7. Here the phrase " Regnum
Hungariae et Provinciae Confoederatae " is employed, the latter, of
course, to describe Croatia-Slavonia.
* Kukuljevic, op. cit. ii, p. 75. Et haec Regna cum praenominatis
Styxiae Carynthiae et Carniolae Provinciis mutuam unionis et certae
confederationis devinctionem ineant (always saving the rights and pre-
rogatives of His Imperial Majesty, of the King of Hungary and of
"these kingdoms").
^° This poem, " The Siege of Sziget," celebrates the heroic death of
the poet's grandfather, Count Nicholas Zrinsky, in defending the castle
of Sziget against a vast Turkish army under Suleiman the Magnificent
(1566). It shows the influence of Virgil and Tasso. The poet's brother,
the unfortunate Peter Zrinsky, was a Croatian poet of some note. He
translated " The Siege of Sziget " and " The Siren of the Adriatic "
from the Magyar originals into " our Croatian language " (to quote his
own words). Wherever the Magyar text speaks of " our dear home,"
(mi edes hazank), he rendered the phrase as " obramba harvatska,"
(the defence of Croatia) and elsewhere he sought to emphasize whatever
of Croat sentiment the original contains.
21
CROATIA BEFORE 1849
pest is wont to claim him as a Magyar, despite the evident
pride with which he referred to his Croat ancestry," and he will
certainly remain the type of the old fraternal relations of two
hostile nations.
By the beginning of the seventeenth century Croatia and
Slavonia had already been reduced to a mere fragment of their
former territory — reliquiae reliquiarum regni, in the despond-
ent, phrase of that day.^^ The frontier extended from Zengg
to the new fortress of Karlovac (Karlstadt) ^^ and Sisak, and
thence through the county of Krizevci (Kreuz) to the river
Drave. The wild mountainous district of the Velebit was con-
tested between the Venetians whose authority was confined to
the coast towns, the notorious Uskok pirates — Christian refugees
from Turkish territory, whose hand was against every man's,
and who from their headquarters at Zengg, kept the whole Dal-
matian coast in a ferment — and the Turks, who held the whole of
Bosnia, Herzegovina and Slavonia and certain points upon the
coast. Defence against Turkish aggression formed for many
generations the main occupation of the Croatian population,
which deserved in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries the
title of propugnaculum reipuUicae christianae as truly as Hun-
gary in the great age of John Hunyady. In the first period of
chaos which succeeded Mohacs, the territory between Drave
and Save was guarded by an army supported by the Styrian
Estates,^* while the districts lying between the river Kulpa
and the Adriatic were left to the care of the Estates of Carniola.
In the course of time a special province, subject to the direct
authority of the Emperor, was formed under the title of " the
Military Frontiers " (Vojna Krajina). It was divided into two
" generalates," the " Slavonian " and the " Croatian," with
their headquarters in Varazdin ^^ and Karlovac respectively,
^^ In 1658 he wrote, in a Latin letter to the Vice-Sheriff of Agram,
" Ego mihi conscius aliter sum ; etenim non degenerem me Croatam
at quidem Zrinium esse scio." Cit. Andric, Kroatische Literatur-
geschichte. [Die osterreichischungarische Monarchie in Wort und Bild,
Croatian volume, pp. 128-9). That Zrinsky was in his own age gener-
ally regarded as a Croat rather than a Magyar, is shown by the
writings of an early Croatian poet, Vitezovic, who devotes an inter-
minable epic (Odilenje Sigetsko, The Siege of Sziget) to the exploits
of Zrinsky as a Croatian hero.
^^ Cit. Bojnicic, Kroatien [Wort und Bild), p. 70.
13 Erected in 1578 by the Archduke Charles, as commander of the
frontier forces.
" Bojnicic, pp. 68, 71.
" Afterwards in Koprejinica. A third district, " The Banal Fron-
22
THE CROATIAN PRAGMATIC SANCTION
and these were organized and governed on a purely military
basis. Every Granitschar or Frontiersman was liable to
military service from his eighteenth year, and must at all times
be ready to bear arms against the invader ; but in return for
this duty, successive emperors granted substantial privileges,
and the Granitschars were justly famous not only for their
military prowess but also for their sturdy independence of
character. Every commune elected its head, and all the com-
munes of a capitanate, their joint Judge, the election in each
case requiring the sanction of the commanding officer. ^^ The
Orthodox Church enjoyed the same privileges as Catholicism,
in striking contrast to more northerly countries.
Early in the eighteenth century the question of the succes-
sion again became acute, owing to the failure of male heirs in
the House of Habsburg ; and once more Croatia followed an
entirely independent course. The efforts of Charles VI (III)
to secure the Habsburg inheritance in the female line, met with
their first success in Croatia, where the Diet unanimously
accepted the Pragmatic Sanction on March 9, 1712. Though
the Hungarian Diet withheld its consent to Charles' proposals
till 1723, no voice of protest was raised against the action of
the Croatian estates, no attempt was made to assert the
suzerainty of Hungary." Nor is it easy to ascribe this silence
to a careless neglect ; for in the course of the discussion the
estates publicly defined their position in the following momen-
tous words. " Neither force nor conquest united us to the
Hungarians, but by our spontaneous and free desire we sub-
mitted ourselves not to the kingdom [of Hungary] but to their
king, so long as he be of the House of Austria. . . . We are
freemen, not slaves." ^^ Nothmg could be more expHcit than
tier," or the district of the Ban, between the Kulpa and the Una, was
subject to the authority of the Ban and of the Estates. By the peace
of Karlovitz (1699) Slavonia and the Lika district were definitely freed
from the Turkish yoke ; the former was formed into a third ' ' General-
ate," while the latter was incorporated in the " Croatian Frontier."
In 1745 the three Slavonian counties (Syrmia, Virovitica and Pozega)
were cut off from this, and restored to the civU administration.
^* See Stare, Die Kroaten, p. 44. Sisic, Povijest Hrvatska, ii, p. 100.
" The Croatian Pragmatic Sanction differs in an interesting detail
from those of Hungary and Bohemia. It declares that in default of
male heirs, Croatia will accept that Habsburg princess who reigning at
Vienna also possesses the three duchies of Austria, Styria and Carniola
(dum simul Austriam Styriam ac Carniolam possideat atque in Austria
resideat). {See Kukuljevic, ii, p. no.)
" " Partes quidem sumus, uti leges loquuntur, annexae Hungariae,
23
CROATIA BEFORE 1849
this ; and it is incredible that the Hungarian Diet would have
left such a challenge unanswered, if its tenour had not been
generally recognized as justified by historic usage and tradi-
tion.
But this vindication of Croatian rights was a barren victory.
The Hungarian Pragmatic Sanction of 1723, which has been
justly regarded as the real basis of Duahsm/^ marks the opening
of a new era, in which the Hungarian aristocracy renewed its
strength in the sunshine of court favour, and then employed all
the weapons which a subtle policy of voluntary Germanization
had placed in its hands, to reverse the tolerant pohcy of St.
Stephen and to transfuse the old aristocratic constitution with
the virus of racial monopoly. The exhaustion which followed
upon the final expulsion of the Turks may account for the im-
punity with which Charles HI and his daughter Maria Theresa
ignored all constitutional forms in their dominions ; but under
the old constitution the real centre of gravity lay not so much
in the central Diet as in the local assemblies, which controlled
their delegates with the utmost jealousy ; and for the present
it sufficed that the old local autonomy had once more become
a reality. Meanwhile the new Council of Lieutenancy which
had been estabhshed in 1729, while in certain respects obsequious
to Vienna, showed by its attitude towards Croatia that it was
by no means indifferent to the interests of Hungary. When
in 1767 Maria Theresa erected in Zagreb (Agram) a similar
Council for Croatia, depending directly from the Aulic Chan-
cellory in Vienna, the Hungarians skilfully won the Croat
nobility to their side and induced their sovereign not merely
to abandon this scheme, but to subject Croatia directly to the
council of Lieutenancy in Pest (1779). The power of the Ban
was radically curtailed, and Croatia-Slavonia came to be re-
garded no longer as regna socia, but merely as partes adnexae
of the Crown of St. Stephen.
At this critical period of her history Croatia, like Bohemia,
was at a fatal disadvantage, owing to the disappearance of
non autem subditi ; et natives olim habebamus non Hungaros Reges ;
nullaque vis, nulla captivitas nos Hungaris addixit, sed spontanea nos-
tra ultroneaque voluntate non quidem Regno verum eorundem Regi
nosmet subjecimus . . . Liberi sumus, non mancipia." Kukuljevic
ii. pp. 105-7.
1* The ablest exponent of this view is M. Eisenmann, whose brilliant
study, Le Compromis Ausiro-Hongrois is an indispensable handbook
for the student of constitutional development in the Dual Monarchy.
24
THE NATIONAL AWAKENING
her ancient nobility. The ruin of the great families of Zrinsky
and Frankopan after the conspiracy of 1670, had brought
huge tracts of Croatian territory into the hands of alien famihes,
whose interests speedily became identical with those of the
Magyar aristocracy .2° Thus the reforms of Joseph II com-
pleted this bond of union between the nobility of the two
kingdoms ; in the struggle against Viennese encroachment
the rights of the Croatian Sabor were neglected. The Diet of
1791, it is true, solemnly reaffirmed the special character of
Croatia, as the sole condition of the union with Hungary ^i ;
but its delegates received the fatal instructions to acquiesce
in the decisions of the majority in all matters common to the
two countries, and only to resist in matters of local concern.
As the tiny group of Croats could never be anything save an
insignificant minority in the Diet, these instructions were
tantamount to a complete surrender of the Croatian position.
The folly of such a surrender became only too apparent in the
course of the next fifty years, as the current of national feeling
grew steadily stronger among the Magyars. The linguistic
question was the cause of ever recurring conflicts in the joint
Diet between Magyars and Croats. While the former sought
to Magyarize the whole administration and to introduce Magyar
as the language of parliamentary debate, the Croats as yet
clung desperately to the prevailing Latin, and deprecated
aU change. 22 At first their resistance was inspired by mere
conservatism and the reluctance to learn a foreign tongue ;
but in 1805 Croat national feeling was already awake, and
Bishop Vrhovac of Agram openly urged the Croats to retaUate
by introducing the " lingua lUyrica " into the public life of
the country. The higher clergy in Croatia enjoy a well-
earned reputation for patriotism and generosity, and Bishop
2" The territory recovered from the Turks was also granted mainly
to foreign families, e.g., Odescalchi, CoUoredo, Trenck, Caraffa, Prandau,
Ranch.
^^ " Cum regna haec . . . inde ab origine propriam habuerint con-
sistentiam et sub hac unice propriae consistentiae conditione semet
regno Hungariae univerint." Cit. Pliveric, Beiirdge zuni ungarisch-
kroatischen Bundesrechte, p. 153 (from Minutes of Sabor, p. 173 in
Archives) .
^^ It is worth noting that even the Croatian delegates of 1790 — the
most Magyarophil whom Croatia has ever sent to the joint Hungaro-
Croatian Parliament — protested vehemently against the introduction
of the Magyar language, and made it clear that its adoption in Hungary
proper (intra recinctum Regni Hungariae) would not have any binding
effect upon Croatia.
25
CROATIA BEFORE 1849
Vrhovac set a splendid example by his various literary enter-
prises.
Meanwhile the desperate struggle against Napoleon, in
which the Habsburg Monarchy was so intimately involved,
tended to throw all else into the background. But while in
Hungary the progress of the national movement was un-
questionably arrested for a time — or at least driven from
political into literary channels — in Croatia on the other hand
the real awakening of national sentiment dates from the
Napoleonic era. Dalmatia, which on the fall of the Venetian
Republic (1797) had for the first time become an Austrian
possession, was ceded to the French after the defeat of Auster-
litz ; and the genius of Napoleon revived the name, and with
it perhaps something of the spirit, of ancient Illyria. The
new state thus suddenly created, comprised the provinces of
Carinthia, Carniola, Gorz and Istria, the seacoast of Croatia,
Dalmatia with its islands, and from 1808 onwards the republic
of Ragusa.^^ In Napoleon's own words, ' Illyria is the
guard set before the gates of Vienna.' ^^ Under the en-
lightened if despotic rule of Marshal Marmont the long
stagnation of the Middle Ages was replaced by feverish
activity in every branch of life. Administration and jus-
tice were reorganized, the Code Napoleon superseding the
effete mediaeval codes ; schools, primary and secondary,
commercial and agricultural, sprang up in every direction :
the first Croat and Slovene newspapers appeared : the iold
Guild System was reformed and commercial restrictions
removed : peasant proprietary was introduced : reafforesta-
tion was begun, and the splendid roads were constructed which
are still the admiration of every tourist. Official business
was conducted in French and Croatian, with the addition of
Italian along the coast. A well known story relates how the
Emperor Francis, during his visit to Dalmatia in 1818, plied
his suite with questions as to the origin of the various public
works which struck his eye, and met with the invariable
answer, " The French, your Majesty." " Wirklich schad'
dass s' nit langer blieben sein " (It's a real pity they didn't
stop longer), exclaimed the astonished Emperor in his favourite
Viennese dialect, and there the matter rested for eighty years.
'^^ French Illyria was divided into seven provinces, including Croatia
Civile (Karlovac, Fiume and the Quarnero Islands and Croatie Militaire
(Gospic and the Velebit), see BojniCic, op. cit. p. 81.
'* Cit. Smiciklas, Poviest Hrvatska, ii, p. 413.
26
NAPOLEON AND ILLYRIA
It was not till the twentieth century that " Vienna," under
the goad of Magyar aggression, again remembered the existence
of Dalmatia.
The newborn Illyrian state did not survive the French
occupation ; Dalmatia and Croatia reverted to their former
stagnant condition. ^^ Francis I" and Metternich, while uphold-
ing abroad the dual policy of legitimacy and reaction, devoted
all their efforts to the suppression of liberal feeling within the
Monarchy itself. Not merely in Cisleithania, but in Hungary
also all political life was at a standstill. The Diet which
even before Austerlitz had become a mere cipher, summoned
only for the formal sanction of war-subsidies and recruits,
was from 1811 to 1825 dispensed with altogether. The leaders
of opposition were reduced to silence by the attractions of
title and office : strict police censorship stifled public opinion ;
and the Hungarian constitution was virtually in abeyance.
In Croatia, where the middle class was even weaker than in
Hungary, the triumph of reaction was proportionately greater.
But the Illyrian idea was not dead, and in the person of Ljudevit
Gaj, the younger generation was ere long to find its inspiration
and its hope.
Austria had undertaken the impossible task of blocking
up a volcano which continually found new vents for its sub-
terranean fires. In North Italy, in Poland, and in Hungary
alike the popular movement smouldered, but never died.
That it ran a more legal course in Hungary than in the other
provinces was due to the county assemblies, which at once
kept constitutional feeling awake and provided it with a
safety valve. At length their stubborn resistance to arbitrary
government induced Francis to convoke the Diet in 1825,
and thus unwittingly to open the era of constitutional reform
in Hungary. Unhappily constitutional reform went hand in
hand with linguistic innovation and racial intolerance ; and
each fresh step taken by the Diet towards the Magyarization
of Hungary accentuated the opposition of the Croats. Voices
began to be heard even in Parliament, arguing that Croatia
differed in no way from the northern coimties of Hungary ;
and when the Croat delegates cited the Corpus Juris, they
were met by the calm rejoinder that the Magyars were after
^* The " Military Frontiers " were revived, but the remainder of
Napoleon's new-formed state survived as " Austrian Illyria " till the
year 1822, with a central administration in Laibach. In that year,
however, Croatia recovered her old boundaries and county organization.
27
CROATIA BEFORE 1849
all in the majority and would vote them down. Their dignified
retort deserves to be placed on record ; Croatia and Slavonia,
they said, " are not subject but associate kingdoms, which
have Hungary not as mother but merely as sister, and existed
long before Hungary." ^^ The Croatian Diet declared with
much spirit, " We are resolved not to degenerate from our
fathers and will preserve our nationality at all costs and with
every possible means. Our rights of local government can
never be the subject of negotiations, our internal adminis-
tration is not within the jurisdiction of the estates of Hungary,
and we protest most solemnly against all innovations." In
1832 the Diet expressed itself with equal clearness against
the introduction of " an unknown language " (ignota lingua)
and instructed its delegates to the Joint Diet to do all in
their power to prevent it.
Croatian national feeling found its first faint literary expres-
sion in an anonymous German pamphlet published at Karlstadt
in the year 1832, under the title, Are we to become Magyars ?
Six Letters from PestP Needless to say, its author answered
the question with an emphatic negative. This little book
caused a sensation out of all proportion to its merits ; for
despite its spirited style and singular freedom from invective,
its sole claim to originality lies in the fact that it interpreted
for the first time in print those vague sentiments with which
the atmosphere of Croatia was already charged. Within a
few months it had reached a third edition ; and its object
had already been achieved, when the Hungarian authorities
ordered its confiscation, and deprived the patriotic Croatian
censor. Father Hermann, of his office.
Neither protest nor argument could avail to check the rising
flood of Magyar Chauvinism. In 1840 Latin was finally super-
seded by Magyar as the language of the Hungarian Diet, and
in 1843 Magyar became the exclusive language of the legisla-
ture, the government and official business, and in theory even
of education.28 But in addition to all this, special clauses
were directed against the Croats. The three Slavonian coun-
** Non subiecta verum regna socia, quae Hungarian! non pro matre
sed pro sorore solum habent, longeque prius steterunt quam Hungaria.
Cit. Pliveric, op. cit. p. 163.
^' " Sollen wir Magyaren werden ? " For over half a century its
authorship was attributed to the poet Kollar ; and it was not till 1894
that its real author was revealed, in the person of Antony Vakanovic,
at one time Vice-Ban of Croatia. See Tkalac, Jugenderinnerungen.]
^* See my Racial Problems in Hungary, p. 42.
28
LOUIS GAJ
ties and the Croatian coastline were exempted for six years,
in order that the officials if not the population might during
that period acquire a knowledge of Magyar ; but after that
date they were to be subject to the same regulations as Hungary
proper. In Croatia, though Latin was to remain the language
of the courts and of internal administration, Magyar was to
be the sole language of intercourse under all circumstances
with the Hungarian authorities. Magyar became an obligatory
subject in the schools of Croatia, and as a final insult it was
declared that the Latin speeches dehvered by the Croat dele-
gates should be regarded as not having been made.
Such intolerance gave a powerful incentive to the lUyrian
cause in Croatia, and Gaj became the hero of the hour. A
man of Western culture and fiery eloquence, Gaj owed much
of his inspiration to the poet Kollir, whose famous epic " The
Daughter of Slava," and still more his essay on the literary
reciprocity of all Slav nations, had been the pioneers of the
Slav revival in the Habsburg dominions. The reforms intro-
duced by Gaj into Croatian orthography proved to be the
first real step towards an approximation between the various
dialects and hence towards the creation of the modern literary
language. A happy instinct led him upon lines parallel to
the great Servian linguistic reformer, Vuk Karadzic, whose
collection of national songs and proverbs is so justly famous.
But Gaj was essentially a politician and an agitator rather
than a poet ^^■, and the great influence acquired by the journals
which he founded in 1834 ^ was due not to literary merits,
but to the daring political ideas which they expounded. Sur-
rounded by a group of fiery young patriots, he opened a vigor-
ous propaganda in favour of the lUyrian idea, by which he
understood an eventual union of all the Southern Slavs.
Comparing Europe to a maiden who sits with a three-
cornered lyre in her hand, Gaj indulged in the following strange
rhapsody. " In ancient times this lyre resounded naturally
and sweetly, when its ordered chords were as yet touched by
gentle breezes. But suddenly a dreadful storm arose from
•9 His famous song, "Jos Hrvatska ne propala " (Croatia is not
yet lost, so long as we live) cannot lay claim to originality, being based
on a similar Polish song. Like so many national airs, it is fine patriot-
ism, but poor poetry, and owes its great popularity in large measure
to Lisinsky's haunting melody.
^° N ovine Hrvatske {Croatian Gazette) and Danica [Daystar], which in
1836 became Ilirske Narodne N ovine {Illyrian National Gazette) and
Danica llirska.
29
CROATIA BEFORE 1849
south and west, and then from east and north : the chords
were rent, and the sweet strains were heard no more. This
lyre is lUyria, a triangle between Skutari, Varna and Villach.
Its strained and unharmonious chords are Carinthia, Gorz,
Istria, Styria, Croatia, Slavonia, Dalmatia, Ragusa, Bosnia,
Montenegro, Herzegovina, Servia, Bulgaria and Lower Hun-
gary. What more can we wish to-day, when all long for con-
cord, than that on the great lyre of Europe all these discordant
strings should harmonize once more, and by the charm of
their sweet music should celebrate the eternal youth of the
sitting maiden ? " 3i
He made no attempt to conceal his enmity towards the
Magyars, whom he rightly regarded as the main obstacle
to the realization of this fantastic dream. " The Magyars,"
he cried, " are an island in the Slav ocean, I did not create
the ocean nor excite its waves ; see ye to it that they do not
break over your heads and engulf you." In 1840 he flung
at his opponents the confident words : " To-day you are in
the majority ; but the child as it is born is mine." The
sanguinary words of the Illyrian poetaster ^^ were doubtless
inspired by a mere desire for rhetorical effect ; but they fore-
cast none the less clearly the inevitable result of the growing
estrangement between Croats and Magyars.
The movement inaugurated by Gaj was viewed with not
unnatural alarm in Pest, and Magyar influence prevailed
upon the Sovereign to issue a decree proscribing the Illyrian
name alike in the press, in the schools and in public debate !
But the methods of repression which were now adopted availed
as little as the transparent attempt to brand as Panslavism
what was essentially a particularist movement. In 1847
the Chauvinism of the Magyars reached white heat at the
Diet of Pressburg and national enthusiasm ran no less high
at Agram. The pent-up feelings of the long linguistic struggle
found vent when the Croatian Diet assembled on October 20,
1847 ; and three days later it resolved by acclamation that
the Croatian language should be introduced in every office
^* Danica of December 6, 1835, cit. Wachsmuth, Geschichie des
Illyrismus, p. 30.
^2 " See how the wild black Tartar tramples on our nation and lan-
guage. But before he crushes us, let us hurl him into the abyss of Hell.
Forward, brothers, God is with us. Hell's demons are against us. . .
Let us bathe our fame in the blood of the foe, let each hew off a head
(svaki jednu glavu skini) and the end of our woes is reached. Forward,
brothers, etc. ..." Cit, Wachsmuth, op, cit, p, 81.
30
KOSSUTH'S INTOLERANCE
and in every school.^^ An open breach naturally ensued
between the Croat delegates and the intolerant Magyar majority
at Pressburg. The fresh linguistic claims of the Magyars
were passionately opposed by the Croats as an outrage upon
Croatian nationality, " I know no Croatian nationality,"
retorted Louis Kossuth,^* then at the height of his power and
arrogance. The words with which Kossuth met a Serb deputa-
tion from the Banat in the early days of April, 1848, showed the
non-Magyar races what they had to expect. After refusing
to entertain their claims for the revival of Serb autonomy,
he declared that only the Magyar language could bind the
different nationalities together. " Then," replied the fiery
young Stratimirovic, a member of the deputation, " we must
look for recognition elsewhere than at Pressburg." " In that
case," was Kossuth's uncompromising answer, " the sword
must decide." The fulfilment of Kossuth's racial ideal would
have involved national death for all the other races ; and
it was directly due to his intolerance that the Magyars found
themselves before the end of the summer ringed round by
hostile nationalities in arms.
The famous March laws of 1848, voted by the Hungarian
Parliament with an enthusiasm which scorned the discussion
of details, sought to transform Hungary at one stroke of the
pen from a mediaeval to a modern state. But by one of the
brutal ironies of history, the two principles which underlay
the great awakening of 1848 were in Hungary enrolled upon
opposite sides. Constitutional government found its cham-
pions in the Magyars, the idea of nationality in the non-
Magyar races. The spirit of autocracy and reaction was thus
enabled to recover from its first reverses and to sow discord
among the forces of progress. The suicidal intolerance of
Kossuth and his followers drove Croat and Serb, Slovak,
'^ Rudolf Horvat, Najnovije Doha Hrvatska Povjesii (The Latest
Period of Croatian History), p. 161.
3* Memoirs of Oiegovic, p. 46. Cit. Zagorsky, Franfois Racki et
la Renaissance de la Croatie, p. 17. On another occasion he ex-
pressed himself as unable to find Croatia on the map. {See Smicik-
las, Poviest Hrvatska, ii, p. 480.) Kossuth's Slavophobe tenden-
cies are all the more remarkable considering his own purely Slovak
origin. His uncle, George Kossuth, was a Slovak minor poet, and Louis'
knowledge of the Slovak language is proved by the fact that in his
early days at Pest he attended the sermons of the Slovak poet-pastor
in the Lutheran church . See Tkalac, Jugenderinnerungen aus Kroatien,
who heard this from Kossuth's own lips.
31
CROATIA BEFORE 1849
Roumanian and Saxon alike into the arms of Austria. Nor
was it surprising that these races should turn with aversion
from the Hungarian Parliament, with its fiery zeal for the
extension of the Magyar language, and rest their hopes upon
the centralist constitution proclaimed from Vienna, under
which the equal rights of all nationalities in the Habsburg
Monarchy were solemnly guaranteed. Nothing illustrates so
startlingly the Magyar tendency to ride roughshod over the
.sister nation, as the fact that at Kossuth's instance, the very
name of Croatia was omitted from the new electoral law,
while the counties of " Koros, Zagrab and Varasd " (= Kri-
zevci, Zagreb and Varazdin) figured in the list of Hungarian
counties, as though there were no such thing as Croatian
autonomy. That the complete destruction of this autonomy
was the Magyars' objective, became apparent from the approval
which greeted Tamoczy, the delegate for Nyitra county,
when he openly expressed the hope that the Croatian Diet
would cease to exist, and that thus the distinction between
Hungary and Croatia would vanish.^^
More especially the Croats had no alternative save to support
Austria ; for the laws of 1848 infringed Croatian autonomy
at every turn.^^ Their delegates at Pressburg insisted that
many of the most serious innovations required ratification
by the Croatian Diet ; but their protests were contemptuously
ignored by the majority, and the close of the session sent
them home to Zagreb full of the bitterest resentment towards
the Magyars.^'
At this critical moment fortune provided the Croats with
a national leader of real ability. In the early days of March
Gaj had led a Croat deputation to Vienna to plead for separa-
^^ Pesty, "Die'Ensteh.ungCroatiens"{Ungarische Revue, 1882, p. 174).
^* Notably Law V (Franchise), XVII (Local Government), XXII
(National Guard) and XXVII (re-erection of the special " seadistricts " of
Fiiime and Buccari) . The electoral law treated Croatia as an integral part
of Hungary, not entitled to any special treatment. Eighteen deputies
were assigned to Croatia, nine to the Slavonian counties, eleven to the
Military Frontiers and two to the towns of Fiume and Osijek (Esseg).
2' The delegate Ozegovic had boldly declared : "I feel that the time
for convictions is over, and that the honourable Estates will have to
do with the firm resolve of the allied kingdoms." Soon after, during
the debate on the conferring of citizenship, Kossuth used the same
phrase with which he had met the Serb deputation, " Between us only
the sword can decide." {See Pliveric, op. cit. p. 179. Smiciklas, op.
cit. p. 477).
32
jellaCiC
tion from Hungary and for the formation of Southern Slav
state under the direct sovereignty of the Emperor ; and it
seems to have been indirectly upon Gaj's advice that the
Court acted in filling the vacant post of Ban of Croatia (March
23), on the very day when Count Batthyany formed the first
responsible Hungarian Cabinet and before he was able to
exercise any influence upon the selection.^^ The appointment
of Baron Joseph Jellacic, then still a comparatively obscure
officer, proved to be one of the decisive events of the revolution ;
for it rallied the whole south of the Monarchy against the
Magyars and cut off the latter from the sea and hence from
all direct intercourse with liberal Europe.
Jellacic in his proclamation to the nation openly declared
that recent events " had shaken and destroyed our relation to
our ancient ally Hungary, and the necessity arises of placing
our alliance with the Hungarian Crown upon a new basis,
worthy of a free and heroic nation ; till then the bond between
us remains dissolved by the present Government of Hungary."
No sooner was he installed in Agram than he set the Magyars
at defiance and opened negotiations with the Serb National
Assembly which the Patriarch Rajacic had already convoked
at Karlowitz, entirely without authorization from Pest. Then
himself following the Serb example, Jellacic opened the Croa-
tian Diet early in June, welcomed the seventy Serb delegates
in an impassioned harangue, and closed in words of menace
towards the Magyars. " The fraternal union of 800 years,"
he said, " promises us a friendly solution of the prevailing
dispute. But should the Magyars assume the role of oppressors
against us and our kinsmen in Hungary, then let them know
that we are determined to follow the sajdng of our gallant
Ban John Erdody — regnum regno non praescribit leges — and
that we shall prove to them with weapons in our hands, that
the time is long past when one nation can rule over another.
Away, then, with the Magyar regime of compulsion — ^we did
not recognize it even before March 15, but after the March
^^ It appears to be certain that Gaj prevailed upon Baron Francis
Kulmer to use his strong influence at Court in favour of Jellacic, and
that Kulmer won over the Archduke John. See Horvat, Najnovije
Doha, pp. 111-113. Dr. Friedjung in his Geschichte Oesterreichs (i, p.
45) ascribes the appointment to the advice of Baron Josika, the Tran-
sylvanian Aulic Chancellor who, as a Conservative Magyar statesman
looked upon Croatia as a possible stronghold against the Revolution.
The influence of the Archduchess Sophia was also exerted in his favour.
(Cf. C. E. Maurice, Revolutionary Movement of 1848, p. 288.)
s.s.g. 33 D
CROATIA BEFORE 1849
Revolution we broke and annihilated it." ^^ The Diet appointed
a committee to consider its relations to Hungary and by Article
XI declared all actions of the Hungarian Ministry to be null
and void, in so far as they were at variance with the rights
of Croatia or the jurisdiction of the Ban. The vague words
of friendship for the ancient alliance, in which the resolution
was clothed, were not calculated to allay the anxiety and
resentment of the Magyars ; and Batthyany obtained from
the fugitive monarch in Innsbruck a decree depriving Jellacic
of his dignities until an inquiry could be instituted. On
his return to Agram, however (June 28), the Diet, so far from
yielding to the Magyar claims, invested Jellacic with virtually
dictatorial powers, and laid down that in any negotiations
the Magyars must recognize the Triune Kingdom and its
ally the Serb Voivody as a free people independent of Hungary.^
Such a concession was obviously not to be expected save
from a beaten foe, and the negotiations were a complete failure.
At length the news of Radetzky's reconquest of Milan placed
the party of reaction completely in the ascendant at court.
It was decided to treat the Magyars as rebels, and to take
back by the sword those concessions which, it was argued,
had only been extorted by headlong revolution and could
not be binding on the sovereign. In September, 1848, Jellacid,
restored to Imperial favour and invested with high command,
crossed the Drave at the head of 40,000 men. The motto
" What God brings and a hero's fate " (Sto Bog dade i sreca
junacka) rallied round him all the Croats and Serbs of the
Monarchy.
This is not the place to describe the course of events in
the revolutionary war, nor even the great services rendered
by Jellacic and by the Serb commander Stratimirovic to the
Habsburg cause. The stubborn heroism displayed by the
Magyars throughout the struggle was worthy of a better
cause ; but independence was a mere fantastic dream so
long as both the dynasty and the nationalities were opposed
to them. The meteoric Kossuth completely overshadowed
the more moderate and really far abler leaders Deak and
Szechenyi, and popularity only served to increase his intoler-
ance. Thus the Hungarian revolution bore from the very
first the character of a furious racial war. On the one side
^' Pejakovic, Aktenstiicke, pp. 29-30.
*" See Pliveric, op. cit. p. 184.
34
THE BACH SYSTEM
stood the Magyars, aided by a few Polish exiles and a section
of the German bourgeoisie, on the other side all the other
races of the Monarchy.
On April 14, 1849, Kossuth committed the crowning error
of his career, by solemnly deposing the Habsburgs and himself
accepting the Governorship of Hungary. The way was thus
opened for Russian intervention, and Nicholas I, in the name
of outraged legitimacy, poured 180,000 Russian soldiers across
the Hungarian frontier. Then at the eleventh hour, when
ruin stared him in the face, Kossuth laid before the revolu-
tionary Diet at Szeged a law guaranteeing the free development
of all nationalities upon Hungarian soil. Here at length
were genuine linguistic concessions — on paper, and on paper
that was worthless. A law which if voted in March '48,
might perhaps have rallied the whole of Hungary in support
of Magyar pretensions, was worse than useless in July '49,
when the country was bleeding from the wounds inflicted
by a furious racial war and when overwhelming masses of
Russian troops were closing in on every side. On August 11
Kossuth renounced his offtce of governor and fled into Turkish
territory, leaving the Magyar army to make what terms it
could.
The Szeged concessions contain no allusion to Croatia ;
and in any case it can hardly be doubted that at that moment
nothing short of complete independence under the Habsburg
crown would have satisfied Jellacic and his countrymen.
Their hopes were soon dashed to the ground. Croatia was,
it is true, spared the brutal repression of which Hungary was
the scene after the capitulation of Vilagos (August, 1849).
But like the rest of the Monarchy, it became the victim of
that absolutist system which will always bear the name of
Alexander Bach. As has been well said, what the Magyars
received as punishment was bestowed upon the non-Magyars
as reward. If the Magyars before 1848 had been bent upon
restricting Croatian autonomy, it was now dispensed with
altogether by the central government. German became the
language of administration, of justice, of education, and as
under Joseph H, the Germanization of the entire Monarchy
was the avowed object of the authorities.
35
CHAPTER II
The Serbs of Hungary and Croatia
THE golden era of the Serb race extends from the twelfth
to the fourteenth century. Although they made their
way into the present Servia and Bosnia as early as the seventh
century — at about the same time when the Croats displaced
the Avars further north — they remained a loosely knit con-
federation of clans, whose chiefs or zupans were to all intents
and purposes independent, though recognizing the sway of a
shadowy overlord.
The first Bulgarian Empire, under the powerful Simeon
(893-927) and his successors, reduced the Serbs from time to
time to its obedience, and after its overthrow Serbs and Bulgars
alike acknowledged the suzerainty of Byzantium. But in
1 15 9 the Serbs found their first great national leader in the
person of Stephen Nemanja. In 1169 he gained possession
of Southern Dalmatia and what is now Montenegro, and after
the death of the Emperor Manuel greatly extended his domin-
ions at the expense of the Eastern Empire, refused to pay
tribute and treated as an independent sovereign with Bar-
barossa, the Crusaders and the Pope. In 1195 he withdrew
to one of the monasteries on Mount Athos, leaving to his
younger son Saint Sava the task of introducing the same order
into the Church, which he himself established in the state.
Saint Sava crowned his brother Stephen Uros as the "first-
crowned " King of Servia (1222) and became himself the first
Archbishop of the Servian Church, with his residence in Uzice,
" the Servian Mecca," as Ranke has called it. His influence
effectively checked the overtures made by Innocent III to
the Servian King, and finally identified the cause of the na-
tional Church with Constantinople rather than with Rome.^^
*^ In 12 1 7 Uros had actually been crowned by a Papal Legate as
King of Servia, Diocletia, Travunia, Dalmatia and Chum. The title
" Prvencani," or " first-crowned " bestowed upon him after his corona-
36
THE RISE OF SERVIA
A later sovereign, Uros II " the Great " (1237-1272) hus-
banded the resources of the Servian state and staved it over
the perilous period of the Mongol invasions. Thus the country
had already enjoyed a century of comparative peace, when
Uros's second son Stephen Milutin succeeded to the throne
(1275). Milutin pursued an audacious and utterly unscrupu-
lous policy of marriage alliances, putting away wife after
wife, according as it suited his political aims to coalesce with
Hungary, with Bulgaria or with Byzantium. The proud Em-
perors, from demanding Servia's homage, were reduced to
begging for its military aid ; and the armies of Milutin twice
helped to repel the Turkish onslaughts in Asia Minor. Milu-
tin's successor, Uros III (1321-1336), waged continual
war with his neighbours, and after inflicting a crushing defeat
upon the Hungarians, finally destroyed the powder of mediaeval
Bulgaria at the battle of VelbuM (1330). The fallen Czar's
family continued to rule Bulgaria, but merely as the docile
vassals of Servia.
But Uros' greatness was shortlived ; for in 1336 he perished
at the hands of his own son. It was under these foul circum-
stances that Stephen Dusan,*^ the greatest figure in Servian
history, ascended the throne. Equally distinguished for his
personal bravery and for his gifts as a ruler, a general and a
lawgiver, Dusan introduced many much needed reforms at
home, and at the same time by a daring foreign policy extended
Servia to its furthest limits. In the thirteen campaigns which
he waged against Byzantium, he reduced the greater part of
the modern Macedonia, Albania and Montenegro to his sway,
and even penetrated as far as the Gulf of Corinth on the south
and almost to the gates of Adrianople on the east. The
jealousy of the Hungarian King was aroused by Dusan's suc-
cesses, and Louis the Great took the field against him. But
so far from turning the tide of Servian prosperity, this only
paved the way to further triumphs. Belgrad and its terri-
tory was wrested from Hungary, and Bosnia reduced to the
condition of a vassal state (1350). But Dusan was politic
enough not to offend the powerful Republic of Venice, which
he recognized as a valuable ally against Hungary. He there-
tion by St. Sava, was intended to show that the earlier ceremony was
invaUd and worthless. — Kallay, Geschichte der Serben, p. 47.
*^ More than one historian has derived the name of Dusan from
duUti, " to strangle." But it now appears to be generally established
that the true derivation is from du§a (soul) and signifies " darling."
37
THE SERBS OF HUNGARY AND CROATIA
fore contented himself v/ith Cattaro as his chief port on the
Adriatic, and left the other Dalmatian towns undisturbed.
This was the less hardship, since the East offered a wider field
for his ambitions than the West. In 1348 he had assumed the
title of Czar of Macedonia and ruler of Serbs, Greeks and Bul-
gars and wore the tiara and other Imperial insignia.*^ The
crown of the East was his acknowledged aim, and preparations
for the conquest of Constantinople were pushed forward on
a vast scale. In 1356 the Servian army occupied Adrianople,
and encouraged by the panic and dissension which prevailed
among the Greeks, its advance guard was already within
sight of the Bosphorus, when the great Dusan died suddenly,
in the full vigour of his manhood. The suspicions of poison
were more than justified by the practice of the Byzantine court,
but no proof was ever forthcoming.
The death of Dusan was followed by a rapid decline of the
Servian power. The very extent of his conquests was a source
of weakness ; when his strong hand was removed, the empire
suffered from the diseases natural to an overgrown child.
The power of the nobles, and the rivalry of the older families
with Dusan's upstart favourites, led to dissensions within the
state, with which the feeble character of his son Uros IV was
quite unable to cope. Above all, the progress of the Turks
in Europe left no time for that internal consolidation which
alone could have arrested Servia's decay. Bosnia, Thessaly
and Albania asserted their independence : Belgrad was once
more occupied by Louis of Hungary : the Bulgars no longer
admitted their vassalage. The capture of Adrianople by
Murad I (1360) even drove the rival empires into an unavailing
alliance against the invader,
Uros was murdered in 1367 by Vukasin, his father's most
trusted adviser ; and only four years later the usurper and
his army were overwhelmed by the Turks in the desperate
night battle of Cernomen (1371). The Nemanja dynasty
had perished with Uros ; Lazar Grbljanovic, a kinsman by
marriage, now became the last of the Servian Czars.
The shortsighted policy of the Christian states still further
hastened the fall of Servia and rendered the advance of the
Turks more easy. While Hungary assailed the northern fron-
tier, the ambitious Tvrtko of Bosnia affected to regard him-
self as the successor of Dusan, and assumed the title of " Ste-
" At the same time the Serb Patriarch was declared independent of
Constantinople.
38
THE TURKISH ADVANCE
phen Tvrtko in Christ God King of the Serbs and of Bosnia
and the Coastland " (1376).^ That this extremely able ruler
played only for his own hand and utterly failed to realize the
significance of the Ottoman advance, is clearly shown by his
intrigues in Dalmatia and Croatia during the anarchy which
followed Louis the Great's death in 1382. These intrigues
ended in the submission of the Dalmatian towns and even
in his recognition as King of Croatia and Dalmatia (1390).
But while he was engaged in acquiring Clissa or Traii, the
Turkish hordes were surging across the Balkans, and the
unhappy Lazar was left to his fate.
Even in 1386 the Sultan had captured Nis and exacted
tribute from the Servian Czar. At length on June 15, 1389,
on the plain of Kossovo, the famous " field of blackbirds,"
Servian independence found a sad, but not inglorious end. The
incidents of the battle have inspired countless national ballads :
to this day the exploits of Czar Lazar, the gallant Milos Obilic
and Vuk Brankovic the traitor are chanted by the gusla-
players of the Slavonic south and find an echo in the heart of
every Serb peasant. Lazar fell in the heat of the battle ;
Sultan Murad shared his fate when the victory was already
won : but his death did not affect the issue. Servia was
reduced to the level of a tributary state, and Lazar's son
Stephen, though recognized as " Despot " by the new Sultan,
was subjected to continual humiliation. His sister entered
the harem of Bayezid, and his armies were employed as
Turkish auxiliaries against Mirtsea of Wallachia and the
Crusaders of Sigismund.^
If by the close of the fourteenth century there was little or
no trace of the Greater Servia of Dusan's dreams, the Greater
Croatia to which Tvrtko of Bosnia aspired was equally short-
lived. He died within a year of assuming the Croatian king-
ship ; his brother and successor, Stephen Dabisa, soon found
it impossible to compete either with Sigismund of Hungary
or Ladislas of Naples, and by 1393 was satisfied with the
former's recognition of his title to Bosnia. In the earlier years
of the fifteenth century Sigismund saw himself strong enough
to assert Hungarian suzerainty over Bosnia ; with the result
that while King Tvrtko II fell into his hands, the rival claimant
** Klaic, Gesch. Bosniens, p. 201, He was recognized as such by
Venice and Ragusa.
*^ At the Battle of Nicopolis (1396) Stephen turned the scale against
the Christians. *
39
THE SERBS OF HUNGARY AND CROATIA
allied himself with the advancing Turks. During the next
fifty years Servia and Bosnia may be compared to a wall from
which the mortar crumbles piece by piece.
In 1420 Cattaro fell into the hands of Venice. In 1427 the
new Despot of Servia, George Brankovic, was driven to acknow-
ledge Hungarian suzerainty. In 1440 Bosnia submitted to
an annual tribute to the Turks. For the next twenty years
the progress of the Ottoman arms was arrested by the heroic
John Hunyady ; but the splendid terms which his prowess
had exacted were rendered worthless by the treachery of his
own sovereign, Vladislav of Hungary and Poland, who refused
to respect a treaty made with infidels. King Vladislav ex-
piated his breach of faith on the field of Varna (1444) ; but
the issue of the battle sealed the fate of the Balkan Peninsula.
The perjured states were marked out for summary vengeance;
and the fall of Constantinople (1453) which re-echoed through
the Western world, only marked a fresh stage in the victorious
advance of Mohammed II. George Brankovic had for close
upon thirty years eked out a precarious existence between
Hunyady and the Turks, between the rival suzerains in Pest
and Adrianople. Evicted from the wide domains which had
owned the sway of Dusan, he had made his headquarters at
Semendria, in the extreme north of Servia, and found even
the strong defences of that river fortress too weak to protect
him from the invincible Sultan. His death in 1457 was the
signal for family dissensions ; his son Lazar purchased the
Sultan's recognition on the most humiliating terms. Within
a year he too was dead ; and Stephen Thomas, the King of
Bosnia, who had thrown in his lot with Hungary and the West,
now obtained from Hunyady 's son. King Matthias Corvinus,
the investiture of his son Stephen as Despot of Servia. The
sole result was to impose upon himself the task of defending
Servia and thus to involve his own kingdom in its inevitable
fate. In 1459 Mohammed II captured Semendria and de-
stroyed the last vestiges of Servian independence. Stephen of
Bosnia, whom Matthias and the Pope denounced as a traitor
for suffering this disaster to the Christian arms, sought to
vindicate his reputation by accepting the crown from a Papal
Legate and by refusing his annual tribute to the Sultan. In
1463 Mohammed overran Bosnia and ordered the unfortunate
Stephen to be beheaded *^ : and though Matthias soon recovered
** Stephen's mother, Queen Catharine, died at Rome in 1478 ; her
tomb is in the Ara Coeli.
40
THE CONQUEST OF SERVIA
the fortress and district of Jajce, the rest of Bosnia and the
Duchy or Herzegovina fell into the hands of the Turks.
Henceforth, for over three centuries and a half, Servia and
Bosnia formed pashaliks of the Ottoman Empire, with their
seats of government in Belgrad and Sarajevo. But while both
were entirely subject to orders from Stambul, their treatment
was not entirely uniform. In Bosnia a considerable section of
the native nobility accepted Islam, thus saving their estates
and acquiring a certain influence upon local affairs. In Servia,
on the other hand, the old nobility had been decimated in the
long wars, and the few survivors had no choice save between
serfdom and exile. The conquered Servians were rigorously
disarmed ; and the presence of the Turkish armies, on their
way to perennial wars against Habsburg and the West, held
them in the bonds of helpless despair. The terrible tribute
of Christian youths, by which the Sultans replenished the
ranks of their Janissaries, broke the spirit of the nation and
turned its own native strength into an instrument of enslave-
ment.
Even now the Turkish state had not yet exhausted its
expansive forces. Hungary, under her great King Matthias,
undermined her strength in onslaughts upon her western neigh-
bours, when she should have been husbanding her resources
for the coming contest. His weak successors did nothing to
arrest the decline ; and the battle of Mohacs (1526) in which
Louis II and the flower of his nobility perished, destroyed at
one blow the independence of Hungary, thus eclipsing the
disastrous records of Kossovo.
The conquest of Hungary rendered Servia's position still
more forlorn : for so long as a Turkish pasha held sway in
Buda deliverance was well-nigh impossible. Throughout this
gloomy period of Servian history, the sole guardians of national
feeling were to be found among the clergy. The Patriarchate,
with its seat in Ipek,*' survived the general ruin ; but the diffi-
culties of its position increased from year to year, until towards
the close of the seventeenth century the Patriarch himself,
with thousands of his compatriots, accepted the protection
of the Emperor and migrated northwards. During the eigh-
teenth century the real centre of Serb national life lay within
the Habsburg dominions.
Even under Sigismund the first Serb refugees had begun
*' Or Pec, in what is now known as Old Servia.
41
THE SERBS OF HUNGARY AND CROATIA
to settle in Hungary, and in 141 2 there was already a Serb
colony in Of en (Buda). In 1427 George Brankovic, in return
for his surrender of Belgrad to the Hungarian Crown, received
enormous grants of land in Hungary *^ and settled many of
his Serb vassals in the lower plain of the Tisza (Theiss) . When
Servia had fallen a prey to the Turks, Stephen Brankovic, a
brother of the last Despot, was recognized by King Matthias
as Voivode of the Hungarian Serbs, and in 1471 his kinsman
Vuk, confirmed in this dignity, led a regiment of Serbs in the
famous " Black Legion " of Matthias. During the next fifty
years other Voivodes were appointed at irregular intervals ;
and their importance is best illustrated by an enactment of
the Hungarian Diet,^^ by which the Voivode, as a Baron of
the Kingdom, was bound to raise a banderium of 1,000 hussars
in time of war ; in other words to make the same contribution
as the King himself. Fresh settlers were established in Syrmia
in 1481, with liberty to retain the Orthodox faith and remission
of the tithes due to the Catholic clergy ^" ; while in 1496 sixteen
villages of Syrmia were granted by charter to the Orthodox
cloister of Krusedol.^i After the defeat of Mohacs, the last
Voivode, Ivan Cemovic, took the side of Ferdinand of Habs-
burg, and two years later was captured and executed by the
supporters of John Zapolya, the rival King of Hungary. No
successor could be appointed : for the Serb settlers, like their
Magyar neighbours of the Alfold, were submerged by the Turkish
flood. From 1541 to 1687 a Turkish pasha ruled in Buda, and
Hungary no longer offered a refuge for the Balkan Serbs.
During the sixteenth century, however, Serb monks obtained
permission to settle in the Croat districts of Varazdin and
Krizevci (Kreuz), and numerous Serb fugitives from Bosnia
and Old Servia acquired land round the monastery of Marca,
where an Orthodox bishop was not merely allowed the free
exercise of his religion, but was in receipt of an annual grant
of 300 florins. 52
It lies beyond the scope of this volume to describe the long
and gradual process by which the House of Habsburg reclaimed
Hungary for Europe and the Christian faith. The religious
strife of an intolerant age imposed long delays, and it was
*^ Among other concessions, he received a house in Of en "pro descensu
et hospito." Cit. Helfert, VadRdcz, p. 119.
** Art XXII of 1498 cit. Stojacskovics, Aktenstucke , p. 8.
^^ Helfert, op. cit. p. 119. ^^ Stojacskovics, p. 9.
^2 Stefanovi(!5, Die Serben, p. 66.
42
SERB IMMIGRATION
not till the close of the Thirty Years' War that the
Emperors were free to devote their whole energies to the ex-
pulsion of the Turks. Even then, despite Montecuccoli's
splendid victory at St, Gotthard (1661), almost a generation
elapsed before the task was taken up in earnest. The in-
centive of a Turkish army before Vienna (1683) roused the
Imperial armies to aggression, and in a series of glorious cam-
paigns the Duke of Lorraine, Stahremberg and Louis of Baden
recovered Buda and expelled the Turks from Central Hungary.
Prince Eugene's first great victory at Zenta (1697) set the
seal to these operations, and the treaty of Karlovitz left to the
Turks nothing of Hungary save the Banat of Temesvar,
On April 6, 1690, Leopold I issued a memorable proclama-
tion to the Christian population of the Balkan Peninsula, urg-
ing them to rise against their oppressors and promising them
his Imperial protection, the free exercise of their religion and
the privilege of electing their own voivode. As a result of
this summons, the Patriarch of Ipek, Arsen Crnojevic, with
36,000 Serb famihes migrated to Hungary and occupied the
now desolate territory between the Theiss and Danube. ^^ The
Imperial charters of August 21, 1690, and August 20, 1691,
assured to Leopold's new subjects their full recognition as a
nation ^^ : the free exercise of their religion, national customs
and Church calendar ; the right to elect their patriarch and
voivode, and to control their own administration.^^ But Jesuit
influences at Court led the Emperor to restrict these generous
concessions. The first voivode, George Brankovic, was after
a few years arrested and confined till his death in the fortress
of Eger. The office of voivode remained unfilled, while Arsen's
successor, Isaias Djakovic, was forbidden to assume the Patri-
archal name and had to rest contented with the lesser dignity
of archbishop. The charter of 1690 was repeatedly con-
firmed,^^ but its contents remained very largely a dead letter
^^ The modern county of Bacs-Bodrog.
5* Toti denique communitati eiusdem graeci Ritus et Nationis
Rascianorum," so runs the phase. Charles VI also calls the Serbs the
" Natio Rasciana."
^' (a) Liceatque vobis inter vos ex propria facultate ex natione et lingua
Rasciana constituere Archiepiscopum. (6) Promittimus vobis eligendi
Vajvodae libertatem. (c) Volumos ut sub directione et dispositione
proprii magistratus eadem gens Rasciana perseverare et antiquis privi-
legiis, eidem a Maj. Nostra benigne concessis eiusque consuetudini-
bus imperturbate frui valeat. {See Stojacskovics, op. cit. pp. 17-20).
** In 1695 by Leopold himself, in 1706 by Joseph I, inijisand 1715
43
THE SERBS OF HUNGARY AND CROATIA
Freedom of religious observance was the only privilege which
was fully respected, and this only in view of the keen discontent
aroused by the court's efforts to promote a union with Rome."
The territory thus occupied by the Serbs comprised the
southern portion of the Bacska, the banks of the Danube,
and parts of the counties of Csongrad, Arad, Csanad and
Zarand. As Prince Eugene extended his conquests southward,
fresh colonists were welcomed in the Banat, and though many
of them were Germans from Swabia and Alsace, the Serbs soon
formed the most thriving element in such towns as Pancsova,
Versecz, Kikinda and Becskerek.
The discontent of the Serbs at the infringement of their
charter led to a rising in 1735 ; the leaders were executed,
and their rights still further curtailed. Though regarded in
Vienna as the direct vassals of the Crown, they came more
and more under the control of the Hungarian county
authorities, whose autonomy had never been wholly extin-
guished even under Turkish rule and now began to regain
its old dimensions. To check this, Maria Theresa in 1752
created an Illyrian Aulic Council (Hofdeputation) at Essek,
for the conduct of Serb affairs, but as not a single one of its
members was Serb, it was greeted with indifference by the
people itself. After an experiment of twenty-five years, this
council was abolished, and its powers were transferred to the
Aulic Chancellory in Vienna (1777). In the same year a new
constitution was granted to the Serb Orthodox Church (Regu-
lamentum Privilegiorum), but was badly received by both
clergy and laity.
The year 1777 also saw a re-organization of the " Military
Frontiers," which had gradually been formed along the Save
and Danube as a barrier against the Turks, and half of whose
inhabitants were Serbs. The famous race of Granitchars,
or Frontiersmen, was the outcome of these measures. ^^ Every
male inhabitant was at once a peasant and a soldier, holding
by Charles VI (III of Hungary) and in 1743 by Maria Theresa. {See
Stojacskovics, op. cit. p. 15.
*' From this period date the two Uniate Churches of Hungary, that of
the Roumanians, with its centre in Blaj (Balazsfalva) in Transylvania
and that of the Ruthenes in IMunkacs.
5® According to Fenyes, Statistik des Konigreichs Ungarn, in 1843, the
eight frontier districts of Croatia had a total population of 527,752,
of whom 246,687 were Serbs : in the two frontier districts of Slavonia
92,986 out of 162,898 were Serbs, and in the two remaining Hungarian
frontier districts 90,132 out of 152,990,
44
SERB DEMANDS
his lands direct from the Crown and subject throughout Hfe
to mihtary discipHne. Their officers formed in time of peace
the local authorities, under the generalates of Agram and
Peterwardein ; while the supreme control of the entire system
rested with the Ministry of War in Vienna.
One consequence of the collapse of Joseph 11 's centralist
experiments was the re-establishment of the Illyrian Aulic
Chancellory at Vienna in 1790. At the national Serb
congress which was allowed to meet at Temesvar in Sep-
tember of that year, the demand of an autonomous Serb
Voivody was openly expressed, although their leader, Sava
Tokoly, opposed it on the ground that the Hungarian
Estates would never tolerate the erection of such a state
within the state. His prophecy was only too well founded.
Yielding to the pressure of the Diet, Leopold H abolished
the Illyrian Chancellory after it had been only sixteen months
in existence, and transferred all Serb affairs to the Hungarian
Chancellory. The sole compensation for this infringement of
their ancient charters, was a law passed by the Diet, granting
Hungarian civil rights to members of the Orthodox Church
and removing all the religious disqualifications from which they
had hitherto suffered.
The Serbs thus found full recognition for their religion, but
not for their nationality. Their former claims were not for-
gotten, but the Napoleonic wars drove politics into the back-
ground and the Serbs sought an outlet for their activity in
commercial and literary enterprise. During the first half
of the nineteenth century most of the trade of Southern Hun-
gary was in their hands, and they still possessed a relatively
larger middle class than any of the other nationalities of the
Banat and the Bacska.
During the eighteenth century Karlovci (Karlovitz), as
the seat of the historic though dormant Patriarchate, became
the true centre of Serb culture and extended its influence to
the provinces still subject to the Turks. The connexion
between Servia and the Serbs under Habsburg rule grew more
intimate. The first liberator of modem Servia, Kara George,
had served in an Austrian free corps. The first officials of the
new principality were largely recruited among the Serbs of
Syrmia and the Banat. The first books and newspapers which
penetrated into Servia, came from the Serb printing presses of
Buda Karlovitz, and Vienna. The first insurrection in Turkish
Servia (1805) received the help of many well-wishers across
45
THE SERBS OF HUNGARY AND CROATIA
the Danube ; and when Kara George and his supporters were
forced to fly (1813) it was in Austrian territory ^^ that they
found a refuge.
The growth of national feehng, which formed so conspicuous
a feature of the nineteenth century, was as marked among the
Serbs of Hungary and Croatia-Slavonia as among the Magyars
themselves.^" The steady encroachments of the Magyar lan-
guage were as keenly resented in the Banat as in Croatia or
among the Slovaks of the northern counties, and the intoler-
ance with which the Croat delegates were treated by the Mag-
yars at the famous Diet of 1847-8, caused great excitement
among the Serbs. Soon after the first news of the revolution
had reached the south, the town councils of Neusatz, Pancsova,
Karlovitz and Semlin introduced Serb as the language of their
official business. A meeting in Neusatz drew up the wishes
of the Serb people under seventeen heads : and it was decided
to send a deputation to Pressburg to lay them before the Diet.
On April 8 the Serbs were admitted to the floor of the House,
and the leader of the deputation, Alexander Kostic, declared
that his compatriots were ready to risk their blood for the
Crown of Hungary. But the cheers with which this declara-
tion was greeted were outbalanced by the uncompromising
attitude of the ministry. In their private audience with Kos-
suth, they insisted that the Serb nation regarded the recognition
of its language as essential. " What do you understand by
' nation ' ? " inquired Kossuth. " A race which possesses its
own language, customs and culture," was the Serb reply, " and
enough self-consciousness to preserve them." " A nation
must also have its own government," objected Kossuth.
" We do not go so far," Kostic explained ; " one nation can live
under several different governments, and again several nations
can form a single state." To this the minister replied that the
government would not concern itself with the language of the
home and would not even object to minor ofhces being
held by non-Magyars, but that the Magyar interest de-
manded that no second race should be recognized as a nation.
Several of the deputation expressed the fear that open resist-
ance might ensue if the southern Slavs should be disappointed
s' The Military Frontiers, being under the direct control of Vienna,
may be accurately described as Austrian up to their incorporation in
Croatia.
«° For some account of the rise of Magyar nationality and its conflicts
with Slav national feeling, see my Racial Problems in Hungary.
46
"THE SWORD WILL DECIDE"
in their hope that the new situation was to end all compulsion
in the matter of language. " If the just claims of the Serb
nation are not regarded by the Magyars," blurted out the young
Stratimirovic, " we shoidd be compelled to seek recognition
elsewhere than at Pressburg." Kossuth's famous rejoinder,
" In that case the sword will decide," put an end to the dis-
cussion and gave the first signal for the racial war.^^
The appointment of Jellacic as Ban of Croatia was hailed
with delight among the Serbs. Disturbances broke out in
the Bacska : at Szent Tomas and elsewhere the hated Magyar
registers were publicly burnt, the Orthodox clergy assisting
at the bonfire. An irregular committee was formed at Neusatz,
and its members, accompanied by a large crowd chanting
the old Serb ballads of Marko Kralje\dc, made its way to
Karlovitz and summoned the Archbishop to convoke a national
assembly. On May 13, 1848, this met at Karlovitz ; the
original charters of Leopold I were solemnly read aloud before
the assembled crowd, and amid general enthusiasm Archbishop
Rajacic was acclaimed as Serb Patriarch, and Colonel Suplikac
as Voivode. The ancient dignities of the race having thus
been restored, the assembly passed a series of resolutions,
declaring the Serb nation as " pohticaUy free and autonomous
under the House of Austria and Crown of Hungary, and
demanding the restoration of the Voivody, and its union with
the Triune Kingdom. A central committee (Glavni Odbor)
was elected to devise a scheme of union, and deputations
were appointed to present a loyal address to the Emperor
and to attend both the Croatian Diet and the Slav Congress
in Prague.^2 Next day the committee began its sittings in
presence of the Patriarch. Orders from Pest forbidding the
assembly had only arrived after it was over : a summons from
the Commissioner of Neusatz to the Patriarch to renounce
his illegal position, was committed unanswered to the flames.
On May 18, George Stratimirovic was elected president of
the committee, which took the name of " provisional adminis-
tration." The youthful president — he was only 26 — came
" Die Serbische Bewegung in Siid-Ungarn, pp. 57-9. Helfert, Vad
Rdcz, p. 132.
^^ A notable feature of these resolutions is the formal expression of
sympathy with the national claims of the Roumanians. Soon after
the Committee issued a proclamation to the Germans of South Hungary,
assuring them that they need have no fear for their nationality. [See
Serbische Bewegung, pp. 82 and 88.)
47
THE SERBS OF HUNGARY AND CROATIA
originally of a Serb family settled in Albania and had resigned
his commission as an Austrian hussar officer, in order to make
a runaway marriage. But though fiery and erratic, he had
already shown political capacity and application, and he
rapidly became the life of the movement for resistance to
the Magyars.
The Magyar Government not unnaturally took alarm at
the course of events ; the assembly of May 15 was declared
an act of rebellion, a new Serb congress was convoked at
Temesvar on June 27, and General Hrabowsky and the local
authorities received orders to suppress the movement by
force. The Vice-Sheriff of Temes, a renegade Serb named
Saba Vukovic, was specially zealous in establishing courts
martial and in arming the Magyar population as a national
guard.
The Patriarch Rajacic, at the head of a deputation, was
present at the opening of the Croatian Diet on June 5 ; he
was acclaimed by the people of Zagreb, and actually attended
High Mass in the Cathedral, where the Catholic Bishop Ozegovic
sang the Te Deum in Old Slavonic. The following week he
appeared before the Emperor at Innsbruck, but Magyar
influences constrained Ferdinand to receive him with cold
civility.
During the absence of Rajacic, all control rested with Strati-
mirovic, who on June 10 answered the Magyars by a call to
arms. Small committees sprang up in every district, officers were
appointed, and a kind of national Serb militia was formed
which attracted hundreds of disciplined fighters from the
Military Frontiers and even volunteers from the Principality
of Servia, under General Knicanin. Throughout July and
August there was desultory fighting between Serbs and Magyars
throughout the south of Hungary. Hideous excesses were com-
mitted on both sides, and it is of little importance to discover
where they originated. Certain it is that the Magyar authorities
displayed extreme severity towards the non-Magyar races and
virtually challenged all who had any spirit, to take the Austrian
side. Equally certain is it that the Serbs took a ferocious
vengeance for the execution of their leaders ^^ and the illtreat-
ment of their peasantry. Serious Magyar historians accuse
the Serbs of burning alive and even impaling some of their
*3 On July 17, Stanimirovic and another Serb of&cer were hanged
at Temesvar. {See Serbische Bewegung, p. 1T4.)
48
THE SERB VOIVODY
victims.** On the other hand, the Serb apologists describe in
plentiful detail, how wounded Serb prisoners and even old
women were bound to the stake for days in blazing sunshine.
Maurice Perczel, known to the Serbs as " the hyaena of
Kovilj," ^ ordered on a single day in March, 1849, the execution
of 45 Serb prisoners, including several women.** As many as 299
Serbs were thus put to death without trial,*' and Kossuth seems
at one time during the war to have seriously entertained the
idea of exterminating the Serbs of the Banat and the Bacska
and colonizing the vacant territory with the soldiers of his
national militia. Over the horrors of this racial war it is
well to draw a veil of silence.
When Jellacic commenced his autumn campaign against
the Magyars, the Serbs were organized under Austrian officers,
and proved of great assistance to the Imperial cause. But
the long delay in the recognition of their national claims was
not without a depressing effect upon the Serbs ; and it was
doubtless this consideration which prompted the Imperial
manifesto of December 15, 1848. " Our brave and loyal
Serb nation," said the Emperor, " has at all times gloriously
distinguished itself by its devotion to our Imperial House
and by heroic resistance to all enemies of our Throne and
Empire. In recognition of these services and as a special mark
of our Imperial favour and regard for the existence and well-
being of the Serb nation," the old titles of Patriarch and
Voivode are revived and duly confirmed to Archbishop Rajacic
and General Suplikac. This concession is to be regarded
as a guarantee of Serb national autonomy, whose introduction
will be one of the monarch's first concerns after the restoration
of peace. Suplikac scarcely survived the news of his recog-
nition by the Emperor : the Patriarch, who himself conducted
the dead Voivode's body to its last resting place beside the
tomb of George Brankovic, found himself the sole official
representative of Serb national claims. The military duties
of Suplikac were assigned provisionally to the Austrian Colonel
Mayerhofer, but the office of Voivode remained unfilled.
When Hungary had at last been reduced to submission,!
** Iranyi and Chassin, Histoire politique de la Revolution en Hongrie,
ii, p. 45.
** Helfert, op. cit. p. 192.
*' At the Court Martial of Szente,
•' See Fried] ung, Geschichte Oesterreichs, p. 231, quoted from the
of&cial hst in the Wiener Zeitung, of August 28, 1850.
S.S.Q. 49 z
THE SERBS OF HUNGARY AND CROATIA
the promises of the December Manifesto, unUke so many
others exacted during the Revolution, were carried into execu-
tion. By a decree of November i8, 1849, the Banat and
Bacska were separated from Hungary, and formed into an
autonomous Serb Voivody, with its seat of government in
Temesvar. But this experiment was from the first doomed
to failure. Instead of restricting the new province to Serb
territory, it was made to include large tracts of country where
no Serb was to be found — the county of Krasso, where 75 in
every 100 inhabitants were Roumanian and 10 German, the
county of Torontal, the northern half of which was peopled
by Magyars, Germans and Roumanians. Such racial boun-
daries as did exist, were deliberately ignored : one race was
to be played off against the other, according to the foolish
old methods of Austrian Absolutism. The attempts of Jellacic
to connect the new province with Croatia and the Military
Frontiers, merely brought him into collision with Haynau,
as commander-in-chief in Hungary. All that he could effect
was that the three Slavonian counties ^^ were reunited with
Croatia. The seat of the Serb Patriarchate, Karlovitz, was
thus excluded from the Voivody, an arrangement which was
most distasteful to Rajacic and the Orthodox Church. The
artificial nature of the new province and its reactionary con-
stitution created universal discontent, alike among the Serbs,
the Magyars, the Germans and the Roumanians. The result
was continual friction, in which all the progressive elements
tended to range themselves on the side of the constitutional
movement in Hungary.
With the collapse of the Bach System in i860, the sorry
experiment came to an end. The Voivody was reincorporated
with Hungary. Little as they had appreciated the previous
ten years, the Serbs bitterly resented their desertion by Vienna.
The National Congress, when it met at Karlovitz in April,
1 861, was openly hostile to Austria and to Schmerling, and
eagerly espoused the cause of the Magyar Liberals. Svetozar
Miletic, already the recognized leader of the Hungarian Serbs,
pled the cause of union in his newspaper Srpski Dnevnik ®^ at
Neusatz, and trusted to the honour and generosity of Deak
and Eotvos to secure free recognition for the Serb nationality
and religion within the bounds of the Hungarian state. His
trust in those two statesmen was not misplaced, but unhappily
*^ Excepting the districts of Ruma and Illok in Syrmia.
** Afterwards Zastava.
50
SERB CULTURE
they could not bind their successors, and the law guaranteeing
the equal rights of the nationalities, which was so prominent
a feature of the settlement of 1867-8, remained on paper
and was never carried into effect.
The history of the Serbs in Hungary since i860 is one of
slow decay. Shut out from all political influence, they found
in their Church autonomy the sole outlet for the expression
of national individuality. The economic changes of the last
fifty years have not been to their advantage, and while Magyariz-
ation has thinned their ranks, there has been a corresponding
decline in the birthrate of the Serb peasantry. Meanwhile
the older culture of Neusatz and Karlovitz exercised a powerful
influence upon the neighbouring principality of Servia. The
founder of Servian education, Dositej Obradovic (1739-1811)
was a native of the Banat, and only crossed the Danube on
the invitation of Kara George, the insurgent chief. The founder
of Servian philology, the Southern Slav Grimm, Vuk Karadzic,
though born in Servia, spent the greater part of his life upon
Austrian soil and drew his inspiration from Dalmatia, Bosnia
and Slavonia, while the acknowledged chief among Serb poets,
Zmaj Jovan Jovanovic, was a native of Hungary and lived
in Agram. The pioneer of Serb literary societies, the Matica
Srpska, was founded at Pest in the year 1826, and remained
for many years the only institution of its kind. Even since
its removal from Pest to Neusatz (Ujvidek) in 1864, it has
fully maintained its reputation for scientific and scholarly
work.
Neusatz no longer retains its distinctively Serb character,
the Magyar and German elements in the town having increased
rapidly in the last half century. Serb culture tends to con-
centrate more and more in Belgrad on the one hand, and at
Zagreb and Sarajevo on the other, and such lesser centres as
Neusatz and Karlovitz must inevitably suffer. But while
the triangular rivalry of these three capitals has many evil
effects in the field of politics, its influence upon literary effort
can only be welcomed ; for so long as it does not lead to
each ignoring the products of the other two, it cannot fail
to introduce variety and contrast into literature and art, and
thus tends to counteract that curse of Southern Slavonic life
the provincial outlook.
51
CHAPTER III
The Era of Experiment (1849-18 6 8)
Non Regno, verum Regi.
THE name of Illyria vanished in the storms of revolution.
It had from the first made its appeal to the educated
classes only ; to the vast mass of the population it conveyed
little or no meaning. Not even the most conservative peasantry
in the world can be roused to enthusiasm by ideas that have
lain dormant for 2,000 years ; and to the Croat peasant Ill^Tia
meant no more than Dalriada to the Highland crofter. But
the idea which underlay " Illyrism " — the perception of the
essential unity of the race, despite its numerous political
barriers and despite ecclesiastical cleavage — this idea could
not be suppressed and soon found a new and more hopeful
expression in the Yougo-Slav movement. The Croatian
clergy has always been in the forefront of the battle ; but
never has this fact been so nobly exemplified as in the case
of Bishop Strossmayer, whose whole life was devoted to further-
ing the cause of Yougoslavism. During the years of reaction
and change which preceded the constitutional settlement of
1868, Strossmayer devoted himself tirelessly to the task of
fostering the tender plant of Croatian culture ; and though
in later life his political influence waned, his striking personality
has impressed itself indelibly upon the life of the nation.
Almost all that is ideal in the Croatia of to-day is his work.
For ten years (1850-1860) the Bach system lay like an evil
nightmare upon the Habsburg Monarchy. Militarism unre-
deemed by leadership, clericalism in the undiluted form of
an all-embracing Concordat, Germanization as a fatal canker
in an administration which not even the most hostile critic
would dare to call corrupt — such were the main features of
this period of transition, from which Croatia suffered at least
as much as the sister kingdom. Absolutism thus converted
into terms of bureaucracy, was from the first morally bank-
52
"GOD AND THE CROATS"
rupt ; and the disastrous Italian campaign of 1859 led to a
complete collapse of the system. But with the dawn of con-
stitutional government in the Monarchy, the difficulties of
Croatia's position were greatly increased, and it tended to
become a mere pawn in the political game between Vienna
and Budapest. The October Diploma of i860 offered a
reasonable compromise between the principles of federalism
and historic tradition, and Strossmayer and his party were
not alone in welcoming it. The new Ban, Sokcevic, the former
adjutant of Jellacic, one of whose earliest steps had been to
introduce the Croatian language into the administration and the
schools, now summoned a conference of fifty-five leading politi-
cians, to discuss the electoral law and to give voice to the
wishes of the nation. To its three chief demands — the recog-
nition of the national language, the union of Dalmatia with
Croatia, and the establishment of a Croatian Chancellory in
Vienna — the sovereign sent a highly favourable reply ; and
preparations were already being made in Agram for the recep-
tion of Dalmatian delegates, when a complete reversal of
policy took place at Vienna. The February Patent of 1861
represents a desperate effort to reclothe the worn-out centralist
system of Bach with constitutional forms, to establish the
German hegemony as the keystone of the constitution. The
elections to the Croatian Sabor took place under the impressions
of this sudden change. The strongest group in the new
House, the National Liberal Party, led by Bishop Strossmayer
and the historian Racki, viewed Vienna and Budapest with
almost equal distrust and thus held the balance between the
Independents (under Cardinal Haulik and the poet Mazuranic)
who adhered to the centralist programme, and the Unionists
or " Magyarones " under Baron Levin Ranch. The resent-
ment and suspicion which the long years of the Bach regime
had aroused against Vienna were rekindled into flame by
the disappointment of the February Patent ; and the memories
of Jellacic's exploits — perhaps too the resounding phrase of
those days, " Italia fara da se " — led the Croat leaders to over-
estimate their strength, and to alienate Austria without making
any special effort to conciliate Budapest. This tendency
was strikingly illustrated by the words of Antony Starcevic,
who now first came into note as the leader of the ultra-Croat
opposition : " To exist, Croatia only needs God and the
Croats " (Bog i. Hrvati).'° It is the tragedy of small nations
'" Horvat, op. cit. p. 205.
53
THE ERA OF EXPERIMENT
that such ideals are mere will-o'-the-wisps, leading them into
the quagmire of foreign domination.
Yet the historic phrase of Starcevic, with its superb defiance
of practical possibilities, fired the imagination of the nation
and still figures as a distant ideal. He and his adherents
founded the Stranka Prava (the Party of Rights), which
upheld an unbending theory of Croatian independence ; and
to-day this party, despite the dissensions and the lack of
talent within its ranks, still occupies a position of great impor-
tance in Croatian politics, and might, if it could but purge
itself of fanatical and self-seeking elements, exercise a decisive
influence upon the future of the Croato-Servian race.
Meanwhile the tactful attitude of the Magyars, and notably
the admission of the great Deak,'^^ that Croatia occupied " an
altogether special position and had never been incorporated
in Hungary," were not without their effect upon the Croats,
whose foolish policy of coquetting alternately with Vienna
and Budapest led eventually to their being jilted by both
suitors. The debate on the Address ended in the unanimous
refusal of the Diet to send delegates to the Reichsrat ; and
the central government, to whom the appearance of the
Croats would have been a valuable counterpoise to the
'^ A strange myth has arisen, that Deak offered the Croats " a blank
sheet," on which to inscribe their wishes and demands. Ferenczi in his
Life of Dedk (iii, p. 350) proves that he never used the expression.
Paul Somssich, however, in the Hungarian debate on the Address (1861),
used the phrase : "I am of opinion that we shall again come to an under-
standing with Croatia ; till then we keep for it a blank page in our con-
stitution, but never will we enter the sphere of reproaches or compul-
sion." (Cit. Pliveric, p. 215.) Deak's views upon Croatia may be best
studied in his German pamphlet, Denkschrift iiber das Verhdliniss
zwischen Ungarn und Croatien (Vienna, 1861). In the first address
to the Throne, drafted by Deak and submitted to the Hungarian
Parliament on May 13, 1861, the following passage occurs : "Croatia
possesses its own territory and has a special position, and was never
incorporated in Hungary, but stood in a relation with us and was
our ally, who shared in our rights and our duties, our good fortune
and our miseries. If then Croatia now wishes as a country to take
part in our legislation ; if further it wishes to clear up with us those
conditions under which it is prepared to connect its constitutional posi-
tion with Hungary ; if it wishes intercourse with us, as nation with
nation, we shall not rebuff it. We only wish that Croatia should not
be prevented from sending its delegates to our Parliament, and that
both we and they should have the opportunity of commencing negotia-
tions on a constitutional basis." {See Deak, BeszSdei, iii, p. 47.)
Nothing could be more conciliatory
54
THE PERSONAL UNION
abstention of the Magyars, had no alternative but to dis-
solve the Diet (November 8, 1861). The only real fruit
of the Diet of 1861 was Article XLII, which gave the
Royal sanction to the assertion " that every bond, whether
it be legislative, administrative or judicial, between the
Triune Kingdom of Dalmatia-Croatia-Slavonia and the
Kingdom of Hungary has in consequence of the events
of 1848 legally ceased to exist." '^^ The sole caveat to this
weeping declaration is that one and the same coronation
ceremony shall suffice for Hungary and Croatia.'^^ In other
words, the Personal Union in its extremest form was upheld
by Croatia, and its existence was admitted by the sovereign.
Those patriots to whom the written letter of the law signified
more than its practical execution — and this class of patriot
has always been plentiful in the Dual Monarchy — were doubt-
less overjoyed by such unreserved recognition. Far-sighted
politicians must, however, have been aware that such recog-
nition was worthless, unless it could be upheld in the teeth
of Magyar opposition, and that this was only possible if Croatia
flung itself unreservedly into the arms of Austria.
Schmerling, it is true, under the stress of Magyar
opposition, did in so far court the favour of the Southern
Slavs as to create an Aulic Chancellory for Croatia and
Dalmatia, and to erect a supreme court of appeal in Agram.
But even this could not undo the bad effect of his earlier
intrigues in Dalmatia, where he had encouraged more or
less openly the Italian, or Autonomist Party and thus virtually
rendered the Unionist movement in Dalmatia ineffective for
another generation. This unwise policy, following upon ten
years of Absolutism and Germanization, had imbued the
Croats with a mistrust of Vienna so deep as to blind them
to the fact that the sole strategic value of their position lay
in the possibility of disturbing the balance between the rival
states of Austria and Hungary. Southern Slav support would,
it is true, immensely strengthen Hungary's position in the
struggle for the restoration of constitutional rights ; but to
Austria this support would prove decisive, since it would
depress the balance altogether in her favour and enable her,
as in 1848, to isolate and eventually overcome Magyar recalci-
trance. Unhappily at that stage, Austria could not be trusted,
and had indeed done everything in her power to deserve dis-
" See Appendix IV.
" Pliveric, p. 205; WexiheirnQr, Graf Julius Andvdssy, if p. 370,
55
THE ERA OF EXPERIMENT
trust ; while Hungary possessed in Francis Deak a statesman
equally distinguished for his scrupulous sense of honour and
for his tactful and conciliatory mood towards Croatia. There
was no Jellacic to guide events, to seize occasion by the hand
and assert for his country its due influence upon the destiny
of the Monarchy ; and hence the Croats rebuffed the advances
of Vienna '^ and tended more and more to favour an alliance
with Budapest. The true alternative to an alliance with
Vienna was a whole-hearted and active co-operation with
the Magyars in their constitutional demands. But this was
rendered impossible by the general indignation kindled by
the news of two encroachments upon Croatian territory.
Medjumurja — the territory lying between the Drave, the
Mur and the Styrian frontier, and inhabited almost exclusively
by Croats — was reunited to Hungary ; while the seaport of
Fiume, which had since 1848 formed an integral part of Croatia,
was now restored to its former autonomous position, imder
a governor appointed from Budapest direct,''^ This last act
was largely due to the folly of the Ban Sokcevic, who had taken
vengeance for some anti-Croat riots, by placing the town in a
state of siege,' ^ and thus played into the hands of the Italian
party and the Magyars.
These two incidents arrested the movement in Croatia for
renewed friendship with Hungary ; and for the four years
which followed the dissolution of the Croatian Diet (1861-
'* The Croatian Address of September 24, 1861, roundly declares that
it cannot see in the Diploma of October 20, i860, anything save a viola-
tion of the public law and the constitution of the Triune Kingdom
(Sulek, Naie Pravice, p. 430) and therefore denies the legality of the
Reichsrat, so far as Croatia is concerned.
'^ Fiume, under its earlier name of St. Veit von Pfiaum, had been a
fief of the powerful Frankopan family, but attained to an autonomous
position towards the middle of the fifteenth century. In 1746 Maria
Theresa imposed upon it a Captain and four councillors, and assigned
all appeals in administrative questions to Graz, and in financial
matters to Triest. In 1776 it was formally handed over to Hungary,
Count Joseph Mailath being appointed Governor and High Sheriff. On
October 27, 1777, the Croatian Diet entered a solemn protest against
the change, but without effect. Fiume's formal incorporation with
Hungary was at length carried out by Article IV of 1807. In 1809
Fiume formed part of the new Illyria and after the expulsion of the
French it was not restored to Hungary till 1822. In 1848 it was united
to Croatia. On this controversy see Ladislas von Szalay, Ziir un-
garisch-Kroatischen Frage and Fr. Racki, Rieka prenia Hrvatskoj (Fiume
and Croatia).
" Horvath, p. 185.
56
DISPUTES WITH BUDAPEST
November, 1865), Croatian opinion held suspiciously aloof
from Vienna and Budapest alike. The abstention of the
Magyars from the Central Reichsrat made the adherence of
Croatia and Transylvania essential to the success of Schmer-
ling's scheme. Had the little group of Saxon deputies, who
alone represented the lands of the Crown of St. Stephen in
the Reichsrat, been reinforced by spokesmen of the 2,500,000
Roumanians of Hungary and by the united delegates of the
soda regna of Croatia-Slavonia-Dalmatia ; then Schmerling
might with some plausibility have asserted that the Reichsrat
represented a large section of opinion in Transleithania, and
its description as a mere Rump Parliament would have lost
much of its force. But the Croats wasted their opportunity
and by adopting a policy of inaction, accustomed the decisive
factors in the Monarchy to omit Croatia from their calculations.
The elections of 1865 returned a fresh federalist majority
to the Sabor. But the Royal answer to the Address of the
new House was already tinged by Magyar influence ; it
admitted that in theory the Military Frontiers and Dalmatia
formed part of the Triune Kingdom, but insisted upon the
Sabor regulating its relations with Hungary, before the idea
of unity could be realized. In conformity with the Royal
wishes, a committee of twelve members was elected by the
Sabor to negotiate with Hungary. Its president was Bishop
Strossmayer, and one of its most prominent members was
Francis Racki the historian. In Budapest it met with a
Magyar commission of equal numbers, which was presided
over by Count George Mailath, but whose ruling spirit was
Francis Deak (April i6-June 22, 1866).
From the first there prevailed a difference of opinion between
the two commissions, the Croats maintaining that the events of
1848 had destroyed the legal bond between the two countries,"
whereas the Magyars would only admit the severance de facto,
but not de jure. The Croats argued that " the Triime Kingdom
had always possessed its own distinct legislature for internal
affairs," while the Magyars merely recognized Croatia as possess-
ing " only a certain statutory right." The Hungarian deputa-
tion declined to admit the Croat claim that " all laws enacted
by the Joint Parliament must be proclaimed in the Croatian
Sabor, if they are to be binding upon us " ; nor could it be
induced to include among the matters under discussion the
relationship of Hungary with Austria, which it declared to
" Cf. Art. XLII of 1861.
57
THE ERA OF EXPERIMENT
be a matter for the Budapest Parliament. Moreover it
refused even to discuss the question of Medjumurje and
demanded an explicit renunciation of Croatia's claim to Fiume.
Finally Strossmayer openly exclaimed, " The Magyars do
not wish to have us beside them as a nation with equal rights,
but under them as a subjected nation. The Magyars rely
upon their friends (the Unionists) in Croatia and are waiting
for events abroad." '^
After two months' negotiations, a deadlock had been reached,
and the Croat delegates returned to Agram without having
effected anything. Strossmayer's view was accurate. The
imminence of war with Prussia and the prospect of great
changes as its result, had rendered the Magyars indifferent
to the outcome of the negotiations. But it would be quite
unfair to blame them for this ; it merely showed their just
appreciation of the situation. While the Croats still clung
desperately to theory, the Magyar statesmen reckoned with
hard fact and adjusted their theory accordingly.
The eventful war of 1866 need not be dealt with in the present
volume. The rapid defeat of Austria by the Prussian armies
was balanced by the Archduke Albert's victory at Custozza
and the still more brilliant sea action off Lissa, in which Admiral
Tegethoff routed a superior Italian fleet and sank his incapable
adversary's flagship. In this connexion it is only just to
point to the part played by the Croat seamen of Dahnatia
and Croatia, upon whom Austria is more and more dependent
for manning her navy.
The two months of negotiation in Budapest appear to have
completely disillusioned the Croat delegates and to have
destroyed their belief in the possibility of coming to terms with
the Magyars. The Croatian Diet, when it met in November,
1866, boldly assumed the attitude which, to be effective,
should have been adopted at least four years earlier. The
Address to the Throne (December 19), taking as its point of
departure Article XLII of 1861 {see Appendix IV), expressed
the Diet's readiness " to enter upon negotiations with Your
Majesty independently as with our most Gracious King,
regarding the relations of this kingdom with the Monarchy
as a whole." '^ It furthermore protested against the attitude
'^ Cepelic-Pavic, /. /, Strossmayer, p. 568, cit. Horvat, op. cit.
p. 243. See also Pliveric, op cit. pp. 229-244.
'* Pliveric, p. 425, Sulek, p. 400.
58
CROATIA IGNORED
of the Hungarian Parliament in seeking to regulate Hungary's
relations with Austria, without consulting Croatia. The
address was answered by a cautious Rescript of January 4,
1867, promising that the wishes and demands of Croatia
would receive careful consideration, but postponing all decision
till the result of negotiations with Hungary had been sub-
mitted. The Diet was therefore prorogued indefinitely.
Croatia was completely ignored at this decisive moment
in the history of the Dual Monarchy. In February, 1867,
Count Belcredi's scheme of Federalism was finally abandoned
and that statesman was replaced by Beust, who had" recently
transferred his services from the Court of Dresden to that of
Vienna, and who subordinated all matters of internal poHtics
in the Habsburg Monarchy to the one absorbing passion of
" Revenge for Koniggratz." Superficial and vain to a degree,
he was on the one hand childishly susceptible to Magyar
flattery and on the other was no match for Magyar statesman-
ship, with the result that he soon persuaded himself that the
Magyars were the most suitable instrument for humbling Prus-
sian pride and must be humoured accordingly. Not possessing
any intimate knowledge of Hungarian problems and scorning
the details of racial strife, he naturally felt no scruples in
instituting a system which divided the spoils of power between
the two strongest races of the Monarchy, at the expense of
all the others.
On February 17, Count Julius Andrassy became the first
Premier of the new constitutional regime in Hungary, and
on March 30 the famous Ausgleich or Compromise beween
Austria and Hungary obtained the sanction of the Hungarian
Parliament.^"
Throughout the momentous negotiations which ended in
the restoration of harmony between Vienna and Budapest,
Croatia was completely ignored, and no Croat politician had
any influence upon the discussions which decided the fate of
the Triune Kingdom as well as that of Hungary. Deak, it
is true, made some overtures to the Croats, with the object
of inducing their delegates to attend the so-called " Corona-
tion " Parliament ; but, so far from showing complaisance
towards Croat demands, he appears only to have yielded to
the persuasion of Andrassy, in offering Croatia more favourable
*" It cannot be said to have acquired full validity till December,
1867, when its principles were also sanctioned by the Austrian Parlia-
ment.
59
THE ERA OF EXPERIMENT
terms than those which he had defined during the negotiations
before Koniggratz. The Croats seem to have had some friends
in high quarters,^i though not in the highest of all. But
Beust and Andrassy were in full accord, in their disapproval
of Croatian claims ; and the Foreign Minister, within a week
of Andrassy's appointment as Premier, was exliorting the
Ban, Baron Sokcevic to destroy the illusions of " those who
aim at loosening the constitutional link which has hitherto
existed between Croatia and the Royal Crown of Hungary,
and who dream of the foundation of a Triune Kingdom, merely
bound loosely to the Monarchy as a whole." ^^ But for the
somewhat threatening nature of the foreign situation and
the fear of Russian propaganda among the Southern Slavs,
it is probable that Croatia would have received still scanter
consideration. As it was, throughout the critical period
the Croatian Diet was denied the opportunity of expressing
its opinion ; having been prorogued on January 4, 1867, it
was again prorogued on April 11, and was not allowed to
meet till May i, when it was already faced by the fait accompli
of Dualism.
Meanwhile the Hungarian Parliament had defined its views
upon the Croatian question, in the Resolution drawn up and
submitted by Deak on April 9. It laid down that there could
only be a single act of coronation for the two countries, and
that in all matters at issue between the halves of the recon-
structed Dual state Croatia must ever form a portion of the
Hungarian unit, but avoided all aggressive phrases and con-
cluded in conciliatory tones, ^^ The Royal Rescript by which
*^ Deak in an important conversation which he had with Beust on
December 20, 1866, " The Ban (Sokcevic) rejected contemptuously the
friendly proposal (of Deak). Letters of his, which had fallen into
the hands of a high personage, showed where the flames of discord were
being fanned from." {See Deak, Beszedei, iv, p. 146.)
*2 Beust to Sokcevic, February 22, 1867. Cit. Wertheimer, Graf
Julius Andrassy, vol. i, p. 373). This booi: — one of the most import-
ant political biographies of recent years — contains a valuable account
of the Hungaro-Croatian settlement (pp. 369-412). Though he writes
from the Magyar point of view, and does not conceal his dislike of Stross-
mayer and other Croatian leaders, he does not deserve the charges of
extreme partisanship which have been made against him by the Croatian
Press. Indeed, he generally writes with admirable moderation.
^2 Deak, Beszedei, iv, pp. 483-5. " The Hungarian Parliament for
its own part will ever be ready both now and in the further course of the
agreement, to give to Croatia, Dalmatia and Slavonia all those guarantees
respecting their constitutional and national claims, which they can
lawfully and fairly desire."
60
ANDRASSY AND CROATIA
the Croatian Diet was opened, followed similar lines. The
sovereign expressed his desire " to preserve undiminished
the historic rights of our dear kingdoms Croatia and Slavonia,
to secure to them such measure of independence as corre-
sponds to the needs of their national development, and to
offer them all those guarantees for their autonomy which
we deem to be compatible with the interests of our Monarchy
as a whole." The rescript took its stand upon the Pragmatic
Sanction, as " the most important fundamental law of the
Monarchy," which specially emphasizes the integrity of
the Hungarian crown and the essential unity of all its
provinces. The wishes revealed in the Croatian Address of
December 19, 1866 — in other words, Croatia's desire to
negotiate with the monarch direct, and to have a voice in
the arrangement between Hungary and Austria — are char-
acterized as conflicting with the Pragmatic Sanction ; and
the hope is expressed that the Diet will not put forward " such
demands as would be apt to render impossible a solution "
of the constitutional difficulty. The Rescript then invites
the Diet to send its delegates to the Hungarian Parliament
on the occasion of the Coronation, and ends with the some-
what peremptory command that they " should so hasten
their deliberations that their delegates could reach Buda-
pest by May 15 at the latest." ^^ Count Andrassy made
it clear that any officials who, as members of the Diet of
Agram, ventured to oppose the Magyar wishes, as expressed
through the mouth of the Sovereign, would be instantly dis-
missed or pensioned .^^ Even Strossmayer was threatened
with the loss of his Bishopric, and a similar pressure was put
upon other leaders of the Opposition. But although Stross-
mayer and Mazuranic absented themselves from the Diet's
deliberations, the great majority of its members passed an
Address to the Throne (May 18, 1867), declining in respectful
terms to send any representatives to Budapest, until an
agreement had been reached upon the constitutional relations
between Hungary and the Triune Kingdom. Delegates
were appointed for the purpose of meeting a similar Hungarian
delegation and drawing up conjointly the Coronation Diploma,
and detailed instructions were provided for their guidance.^*
*♦ Pliveric, pp. 261-4 ; Sulek, p. 483 ; Horvat, pp. 238-42.
" His telegram to the Ban, to this effect, is cited by Wertheimer,
P- 374-
" See Appendix V.
61
THE ERA OF EXPERIMENT
A week later, May 25, the Croatian Diet was dissolved, the
Royal Rescript characterizing the demands of the majority
as " unrealizable, some of them altogether, some of them
owing to the short time," and as intended to make all con-
stitutional agreement impossible.
On June 8, Francis Joseph was crowned King of Hungary
with more than the usual pomp and solemnity ; but neither
the Parliament nor the nobility of Croatia were repre-
sented at the ceremony. Of the higher Croat clergy only
the Bishop of Zengg was present,^' while deputations were
sent by the towns of Fiume, Osijek (Essek) and Po^ega.
The Ban, Baron Sokcevic, was obliged to attend the Coro-
nation, in his quality of " Baro Regni " ; but he was not
long in handing in his resignation (June 27).
As Sokcevic's successor Count Andrassy, with whom the
nomination of the Ban now really lay, appointed Baron Levin
Ranch, the leader of the Unionist, or Magyarone, party in
Croatia. His mission was to secure the passage of a Hungaro-
Croatian Compromise through the Diet of Agram. His repu-
tation for unscrupulous energy rendered it safe to entrust
him with the details of the task. A majority had to be
found, by hook or by crook ; and Ranch was anything
but nice in his choice of methods. The most approved
methods of the Police State were revived. All officials,
professors or schoolmasters suspected of active sympathy
with the Opposition were transferred, dismissed or pen-
sioned.^^ The clergy, then as ever enthusiasts for the
national cause, were subjected to intimidation or persecution.
The Opposition Press was muzzled ; and on August 19
its ablest organ Pozor was suppressed altogether.^^ By the
autumn the ground had been prepared for more radical
measures. On October 20 a new electoral law ^° — specially
contrived to harass and handicap the Opposition — was pro-
" Horvat, op. cit. p. 269.
*^ The Slav world owes Ranch a debt of gratitude, in that among
other victims of his illegal regime, a young Croat scholar, Vatroslav
Jagic, found it advisable to leave his native country. Under happier
circumstances he has lived to be acknowledged as the foremost Slavistic
scholar of his time in Europe. But he has also lived to see Croatia
groaning under the misrule of a second Baron Ranch.
*» Horvat, p. 274. A new Croat newspaper — Novi Pozor — was at
once founded in Vienna. In May, 1869, Rauch forbade its sale in
Croatia.
*° Sulek, op. cit. pp. cxxxvi-cxliii .
62
A PACKED DIET
mulgated by arbitrary decree ; and it was upon this illegal
basis that the elections to the new Diet took place. The
whole administrative machine was of course enlisted in favour
of Ranch's candidates, the elections lasted from November
19 to December 23, and wholesale bribery and corruption
decimated the ranks of the Opposition. Out of sixty-six
elected deputies ^1 no fewer than thirty-four were officials;
the National Party had shrunk to a tiny group of fourteen
members, ^2 while Star ce vie and Mrazovic, the two leaders of
the Radical and anti-Magyar wing were not allowed to secure
seats in the new House.
The Diet met in Agram on January 8, 1868 : and the Opposi-
tion feeling its impotence and nettled by the contempt with
which the majority treated its protests against the arbitrary
change in the franchise, decided to adopt the fatal policy of
abstention. Its spokesman declared in the opening sitting,
that " in withdrawing from the House, we protest against all
the decisions of this Sabor, composed on an unconstitutional
and illegal basis. Standing inalienably upon Article XLII
of the year 1861 (see Appendix IV) and upon His Majesty's
Rescript of November 8, 1861, we protest against the sub-
ordination of the Triune Kingdom to the Kingdom of
Hungary." 93
In spite of Strossmayer's disapproval, the whole Opposition,
with the exception of two members, withdrew from the House ;
and the majority was left in undisputed possession of the
field. The deputation elected on January 30 to resume the
negotiations with Hungary, consisted exclusively of Unionists ;
and though they still took the much-cited Article XLII of
1861 as their point of departure, their acceptance of the Magyar
draft of the proposed Hungaro-Croatian compromise was of
course from the first a foregone conclusion. A minority
among the Croat delegates, it is true, held out for financial
autonomy, and Deak was not indisposed to make the con-
cession. But a majority was content to leave the draft
virtually unaltered, and its reference to a joint committee
was very largely a matter of form. On one point only did
the Croat delegates stand firm — the question whether Fiume
'^ As opposed to the hereditary members.
'^ Including Racki the historian and Dr. Michael Polit, then a young
Serb advocate, now the veteran champion of the Serbs of Southern
Hungary, and once more member of the Hungarian Parliament from
1906 to 1910.
*^ Polic, Parlam. Povfest, ii, pp. 20-21.
63
THE ERA OF EXPERIMENT
should belong to Croatia or to Hungary ; and it will be seen
that paragraph 66 of the Compromise postponed the final
settlement of this vital issue till a subsequent occasion.^^
On September 24, 1868, after a debate lasting three days,
the measure was adopted en bloc by the Croatian Diet, with-
out going into committee, and by 69 votes to 4.^^ Four days
later it received the unanimous sanction of the Hungarian
Parliament.
** The sinister history of this paragraph is narrated on page 81.
»5 Horvat, p. 276 ; Zagorsky, p. 96.
64
CHAPTER IV
The Compromise between Hungary and
Croatia (1868)
IN the preceding chapter I have attempted to summarize
the main incidents of Croatian constitutional develop-
ment and indirectly to prepare the reader for the view that
the claims and aspirations of Croatian parties at the present
day are not merely based upon some modem theory of the
rights of nationality, but upon the persistent traditions of
eight centuries. It may be objected that the recital of ancient
claims and privileges, which in no way correspond to actual
practice, is of merely academic value. Yet in a country of
such composite character and mixed races as Austria-Hungary,
constitutional law — best referred to under the convenient
German name of Staatsrecht — exercises a powerful influence
upon political development ; and its formulae, even when
most inaccurate or extravagant, cannot be ignored with
impunity, as they might be in our own country, where public
men are too often ignorant even of such fundamental laws as
the Scottish or Irish Acts of Union.
If this be my apology for the preceding chapter, none should
be required for its successor, in the course of which I propose
to analyse the Compromise of 1868. Whatever may be its
shortcomings or omissions, this document has for over forty
years formed the basis of Hungaro-Croatian relations and,
as an essential supplement to the more famous Ausgleich
between Austria and Hungary, forces itself upon the attention
of all students of the Dual Monarchy and of all politicians
who are interested in the future of the Southern Slavs.
In reply to the extremists who deny the validity of the
Compromise, it must at once be conceded that it rests upon
the most doubtful legal basis ; for the assembly which sanc-
tioned it owed its existence to an illegal revision of the fran-
s.s.Q. 65 F
COMPROMISE BETWEEN HUNGARY AND CROATIA
chise by arbitrary decree, and to wholesale electoral corruption
and intimidation of the very grossest kind. On the other
hand, it is equally true that the franchise upon which the
earlier Diets of 1861 and 1865 were elected had originally
been promulgated by Jellacic in 1848, even if they subsequently
received the unanimous sanction of the elected body. But
whether lawful or illegal, the Compromise subsists in practice,
and must be seriously reckoned with, so long as the short-
sighted policy of Viennese statesmen permits the Dualist
System to continue in its present form. In other words, the
more advanced claims of Croatia must be treated as tem-
porarily in abeyance ; and for the present our attention must
be confined exclusively to the strict letter of the law which
regulates her relationship with the sister kingdom of Hungary.
The exact juridical nature of the Compromise has formed
the subject of much lively controversy. Many Magyar
politicians and publicists affect to regard it simply as one of
the many laws upon the Hungarian statute book, and subject,
like them, to parliamentary revision when occasion arises ;
while the Croats are practically unanimous in treating it as
a solemn contract between two parties enjoying theoretical
if not actual equality. In view of the explicit terms of the
preamble to the Act, it is difficult to understand how any one
can venture to deny the theory of contract. " An agreement
having been reached, by joint decision, between the Parliament ^*
of Hungary on the one hand and the Parliament of Croatia-
Slavonia and Dalmatia on the other hand with a view to
composing the constitutional questions pending between
them, this agreement, after being approved, confirmed and
sanctioned by His Imperial and Apostolic Royal Majesty, is
hereby inarticulated as joint fundamental law of Hungary
and Croatia-Slavonia-Dalmatia." So runs the preamble to
Law XXX of the Hungarian Parliament, which had already
received the sanction of the Croatian Diet, as Article I of
the same year.
The preamble is carefully worded in order to suggest full
parity between the contracting parties, and the whole pro-
*» The latter received the Royal sanction on November 8, the former
on November 17, 1868. It should be noted that the Magyar text
employs the same word — orszaggyiiles — to describe both assemblies.
This would seem effectively to dispose of the modern Magyar Chauvinist
argument, that the Diet of Agram is no Parliament in the true sense
of the word. In Croat the word "Sabor" is applied to both.
66
CROATIA'S INTERNATIONAL POSITION
cedure adopted to pass the Compromise into law, confirms
the view that it is, in the words of the concluding paragraph,
a "joint fundamental law" of Hungary and the Triune
Kingdom, duly inscribed as such upon the statute books of
the two countries. On the other hand, it lays down equally
clearly that Croatia and Slavonia have belonged for centuries,
alike de jure and de facto, to the Crown of St. Stephen, and
that " the lands of the Hungarian Crown are inseparable
from one another."
A large section of Croatian opinion contests this view ;
while Magyar opinion declines to recognize any distinction
between the Crown of St. Stephen " ^^ and "Hungary" in
the narrow sense, thus arriving at the conclusion that Croatia
is a mere province of Hungary. The contention of the Croatian
Diet, upheld firmly for centuries, is summed up in the brief
phrase, " Regi, non Regno."
This pronouncement, which completely ignores the Croatian
Pragmatic Sanction of 1712 and treats the Hungarian Prag-
matic Sanction as alone binding upon the two countries,
follows closely upon the lines of the Austro-Hungarian Aus-
gleich, which employs the phrases " Hungary and its annexes "
(Nebenlander) , and " the lands of the Hungarian Crown " as
identical and as forming a single unit in the sense of the
Pragmatic Sanction. The preamble may thus be described
as a compromise, in the fullest meaning of the word, between
the two extreme views ; for while assuming the parity of
the two parties to the treaty, it at the same time pronounces
their union to be indissoluble.
This unity once admitted, it must naturally follow that,
in the words of paragraph i, " Hungary and Croatia-Slavonia
and Dalmatia form one and the same state-complex {Staats-
gemeinschajt) ^^ alike in their position towards the other terri-
tories under His Majesty's rule and towards other countries."
Thus so far as international affairs are concerned, Hungary
and Croatia form a single unit ; but in all internal matters
each of the two states preserves its identity, Croatia being
expressly recognized as a " political nation possessing a special
territory of its own " (§ 59). And again in section 29 of the
Law of Nationalities (1868, XLIV) as " a separate nation
from a pohtical point of view." In constitutional questions
*' Despite the mystical qualities which they assign to the CrowTi in
any discussion of their differences with Austria.
*' allamkozosseg ; drzavna zajednica.
67
COMPROMISE BETWEEN HUNGARY AND CROATIA
analogies are always of doubtful value, and as a matter of
fact there is no real analogy among the existing states of
Europe to the relationship between Hungary and Croatia.®*
Croatia can only be regarded as a sovereign state, shorn by
its own act of certain attributes of sovereignty. Its powers
would seem to distribute themselves under three heads : —
1. Common affairs between Hungary and Austria, for
which Croatia forms an integral part of the Transleithan unit
and is only free to communicate with Austria or the outer
world through the medium of Budapest — its executive control
being almost nil and even its legislative control being limited
to the presence of three Croat members in the Hungarian
Delegation,
2. Common affairs between Hungary and Croatia, which
lie within the province of the Joint Parliament of Budapest,
3. Autonomous affairs, over which the Diet of Agram
enjoys the exclusive control.
I now propose to examine the Hungaro-Croatian Com-
promise from these three points of view, including within
my survey the four revisions of the years 1873 (Art, XXXIV),
1881 (Art. XV), 1889 (Art. XL). 1891 (Art. XXVII), and
the three Croatian articles of 1869 (II), 1870 (II) and 1888
(September 29), which deal with the composition and powers
of the autonomous Government and Diet of Agram. 1°°
A. AUSTRO-HUNGARIAN COMMON AFFAIRS
Under § 4 Croatia is obliged to recognize as valid and binding
the Ausgleich of 1867 (in its Hungarian form, as Art. XII of
the Hungarian Parliament), and also the three Acts (XV,
XVI, XVII, 1867) regulating the commercial and financial
relations of the two halves of the Monarchy, all of which had
been concluded between Austria and Hungary without Croatia
being consulted. In return for this recognition, however,
Hungary inserted the explicit pledge that " in the future
fundamental laws and agreements of this nature can only be
concluded under the lawful collaboration of Croatia-Slavonia
and Dalmatia." i°i
•* With the possible exception of Finland and Russia.
"0 A careful English translation of the Compromise will be found
in Appendix VI.
^»' This paragraph contains an interesting distinction between Common
Affairs (between the territories of the Crown of St. Stephen and the other
territories of His Majesty) and " afEairs which are not common but are
68
CROATIA'S POSITION IN THE MONARCHY
As an interesting example of the manner in which this
pledge has been fulfilled, it may be pointed out that Croatia
has never been consulted on the occasion of any of the revisions
of the Austro-Hungarian Ausgleich, and that during the
winter of 1907, when the commercial Ausgleich was renewed,
the Croatian constitution was actually in abeyance, as the
result of a quarrel conjured up by another equally flagrant
violation of the Hungaro-Croatian Compromise on the part
of the Hungarian Government. ^"^
This enables us to realize the disadvantages from which
Croatia suffers, owing to the fact that she was confronted
with a fait accompli in respect of the joint affairs of the Mon-
archy. There is absolutely no machinery for securing to
Croatia even the means of approach to the central organs
of Government in the Monarchy — the Joint Ministries of
Foreign Affairs, War and Finance — still less to ensure her
being consulted even when matters of the most vital interest
to all Southern Slavonic countries are under consideration.
A very practical illustration was afforded by the crisis of
1908, when Croatian interests were completely ignored at
headquarters, though the Croat and Serb race would have
been the main sufferer if a war with Servia had resulted from
Baron Aehrenthal's policy.
The joint executive is responsible to those clumsiest and
most unreal of constitutional machines, the Delegations,^"^
in which Croatia is only represented by five members and
can therefore exercise no real influence upon their legislative
proceedings, or upon those executive changes on which the
Delegations may insist. ^"^ From the Magyar standpoint this
is an essentially wise and desirable arrangement ; but it is of
to be disposed of by common agreement." This was undoubtedly-
intended by its framers to be conciliatory, but since then conciliation
has given place to compulsion.
1" See Chapter VIII.
103 Xwo Committees of sixty members each, elected annually by
the Parliaments of Austria and Hungary, and meeting alternately
in Vienna and Budapest for the discussion of all matters pertaining
to the three Joint Ministries. They sit and vote separately, and
only communicate by " Nuntium " : in the event of a disagreement
there is a joint vote.
1"* To judge by a dispute which arose in October, 19 10, there is
nothing to prevent the Hungarian Government from filling all five
places (four from the Lower and one from the Upper House) with its own
nominees, and thus excluding Croat opposition opinion from the
Delegations,
69
COMPROMISE BETWEEN HUNGARY AND CROATIA
course quite irreconcilable with even the most moderate
Croat theory of state.
In other words, Croatia, though recognized as " a political
nation possessing a special territory of its own," has no part
in the Central legislature and executive of the Monarchy and
exercises absolutely no control over it. The Joint Ministers
stand or fall according to the wishes of Vienna or Budapest.
The Monarchy embarks upon a momentous Southern Slav
policy, involving European issues ; but the Southern Slavs
are not consulted. The financial and commercial interests
of this " special territory " are not represented at headquarters.
The Ban of Croatia, himself a nominee of the Hungarian
Premier (§51), is only entitled to communicate with the Sovereign
through the medium of the Minister for Croatia, who of course
also holds his seat in the Hungarian Cabinet at the will of
the Premier (§ 44). Thus a Magyar barrier may be said to
exist, shutting off Croatia from the outer world, and depriving
her of the very slightest influence upon the councils of the
Monarchy as a whole.
It would be absurd to blame the Magyars for thus limiting
Croatian independence. According to their reading of con-
stitutional law, Croatia has for centuries formed an integral
part of the Crown of St. Stephen, and any concessions of
autonomy are a free gift, not a privilege legally exacted.
The interests of Hungary are paramount, and they alone are
to be consulted. But it would be still more absurd to expect
the Croats to regard with anything but extreme aversion an
arrangement which places them at the mercy of a country
whose economic interests are diametrically opposed to their
own.
II. Hungaro-Croatian Common Affairs
If we turn from Croatia's share in the affairs of the Monarchy
as a whole — a share which can hardly even be said to exist
at all — to her share in affairs common to the whole of Trans-
leithania, it will be found that the framers of the Compromise
conceived it in what from the Magyar standpoint can only
be described as exceedingly liberal terms, and that it con-
tains all the elements of a true federal union of two equal
sovereign states.
At the same time it must be remembered that the whole
conception of " terms " granted by one party to the other,
infringes the theory of contract and is therefore highly dis-
70
CROATIA'S REPRESENTATION IN BUDAPEST
tasteful to the Croats. In their view, the Compromise ought to
embody the rights which they have enjoyed (at least in theory)
for centuries, not the concessions which they have obtained
from an allied nation.
Hungary and Croatia possess a Joint 'Government (ge-
meinsame Regierung) (§ 3), and in all joint affairs the legis-
lative power belongs to the Parliament of Budapest, which
therefore should in strict parlance be known as the Hungaro-
Croatian Parliament. In it Croatia is represented by forty
delegates from the Diet of Agram.^^^ who only sit when matters
relating to the whole of Transleithania are under discussion and
retire when purely Hungarian measures are introduced (§ 31).
These forty are strictly speaking not deputies but delegates,
being elected by the Croatian Diet out of its own members,
for the whole period of the Joint Parliament. ^"^ If meanwhile
the Sabor should be dissolved, the elected forty continue to
be members of the Joint Parliament, until the new Diet has
been able to elect new delegates (§ 34). This provision,
originally inserted merely for convenience' sake, has become
latterly one of the most effective constitutional guarantees
which Croatia possesses, since it makes it impossible for
Hungary, even when the Croatian Constitution has been
entirely suspended (as in 1908-1910), to stifle the free expression
of Croatian opinion in the Joint Parliament.
All joint laws are published both in Magyar and in Croatian ;
and the Croat delegates have the right to employ their own
language in debate (§ 59). During debates on joint affairs,
the flag of Croatia is hoisted above the Parliament buildings,
side by side with the flag of Hungary (§ 62). The combined
arms of Hungary and of the three Southern Slav kingdoms
form the emblem of the Joint Government (§ 61). The royal
105 Article XV, 1881, § 2. Under § 22, XXX, 1868, the number had
been fixed at 29 : but § 33 laid down that in the event of either the
Military Frontiers or Dalmatia being united to Croatia, the number should
be increased, in proportion to the increase of population. When there-
fore the Frontiers were united in i8Si,the number was raised from 29
to 40. On a basis of population, there should then have been 51 de-
puties for Croatia-Slavonia, which in 1880 had 1,892,499 inhabitants
out of a total of 15,642,102 for Transleithania. Ungarisches Statistisches
Jahrbuch XII, p. 18. Forty out of 453 deputies corresponds to 8-8 in-
stead of 11-4 per cent.
i"* The Diet further sends three of its members as delegates to the
House of Magnates (§ 36, modified by 1881, XV. § 2).
71
COMPROMISE BETWEEN HUNGARY AND CROATIA
title " King of Croatia, Slavonia and Dalmatia," is to appear
after " King of Hungary " on all Hungarian coins (§ 64).
The Joint Affairs of Hungary and Croatia are defined as
follows (§§ 6-9) :—
(i) The Civil List.
(2) All laws relating to recruiting and military service.
(3) The financial system.
(4) Coinage, and weights and measures.
(5) Commercial treaties.
(6) All Questions of Banking and Exchange.
(7) Patents, Copyright, etc.
(8) Maritime, Commercial and Mining Law.
(9) Customs and Trade.
(10) Post Office and Telegraphs.
(11) Railways.
(12) Harbours and Shipping.
The executive side of these affairs lies partly with officials
of the central Government and partly with the autonomous
Croatian authorities (§ 45) ; but in each case, Croatian is the
official language for all officials throughout the territory of
Croatia-Slavonia (§ 57).
In addition to the above affairs, a number of minor matters
— industrial regulations, passports, citizenship and naturaliza-
tion — are placed under the legislative control of the Joint
Parliament, but their supervision lies with the local executive
The outward and visible sign of union between Hungary
and Croatia is the Coronation ceremony, which is to be a
single act for the two countries (§ 2). The Magyars have
always assigned a peculiar mystic significance to the Crown
of St. Stephen, and regard it as typifying the territorial unity
of their country. As a matter of fact, even the extremist
Croat politicians, while upholding the view that separate
coronations for the two countries took place for many reigns
after the Union, seem to raise no objection to a joint Corona-
tion ceremony, though they demand Croatia's independence
in all else. In other words they favour the Personal Union,
and wish the person of the Sovereign to be the sole link between
Croatia and Hungary.
III. Croatian Autonomy
All those affairs which are not expressly enumerated fall
under the sphere of Croatian autonomy (§ 47). In efiect,
72
CROATIAN AUTONOMY
however, this autonomy is threefold — Administration, Justice
(with which Church questions are combined) and Education
(§ 48), each of which has a Government Department of its
own at Agram, bearing the character though not the name
of a Ministry, and subject to the three sectional chiefs, who
form, under the Ban, the Croatian equivalent for a Cabinet.
As the Ban is responsible to the Diet of Agram (XXX, 1868,
§ 50 and Cro. Art. II, 1869, § 9) and as the sectional chiefs are
appointed by him and resign when he resigns, 1°' ministerial
responsibility may be admitted to form an essential part of
Croatian constitutional theory ; but for reasons which will
become apparent later, this responsibility is apt to become
a mere farce in practice.
Thus in three directions Croatia enjoys absolute " Home
Rule," alike legislative and administrative. The whole
executive is organized on a Croatian basis, in the national
language : education, partial and hampered though it is by
lack of funds, is also entirely national and independent of
all control from Budapest ; while Croatia has for centuries
possessed a complete judicial system of its own, with a supreme
Court of Appeal located in Agram. What is most important
of all, the recognition which the Compromise secures to the
Croatian language is absolutely unqualified. Croatian is
recognized as the sole official language throughout the territory
of the Triune Kingdom, and must be employed not only by
all organs of the Central Government in that territory, but
also in all communications of the Central Government to
any of the autonomous authorities (§§ 56, 57, 58). The Croatian
delegates, who with very few exceptions are quite ignorant
of the Magyar language, have the right to employ their own
language both in the Joint Parliament of Budapest and in
the Hungarian Delegation (§ 59). The laws must be published
in Croatian as well as Magyar (§ 60). The Militia throughout
Croatian territory employs the Croatian flag and is commanded
in the Croatian language.
The weakest points of the Compromise are the financial
relations of the two countries and the position of the Ban.
As both have led to repeated misunderstandings and acrid
controversy, it is necessary to pass them under review before
proceeding any further.
*•" The law does not expressly assign these appointments to him,
but the invariable practice, and the sense of Article II, 1869, § 16,
leave them in his hands.
7i
COMPROMISE BETWEEN HUNGARY AND CROATIA
{a) Finance.
The general principle is laid down, that Croatia-Slavonia
shall contribute to the Joint Affairs of the Monarchy, in
accordance with its taxable capacity ; and in pursuance of
this aim, the proportion of contribution was so fixed that
93 5 psr cent, of the total expenses of Transleithania should
be borne by Hungary, and only 64 per cent, by Croatia.
This very liberal arrangement was modified still farther in
Croatia's favour in 1880 (Art. LTV), when the proportions
were changed to 94-4 and 55 respectively. But it was again
modified in 1889 (Art. XL), when Hungary was burdened
with 92 per cent, and Croatia with 7 93 per cent., and again
in 1906 (Art. X),when Hungary's share was reduced to 91-3
and Croatia's share increased to 8-i per cent. In calculating
the proportion to be paid by the two countries, the same
procedure was adopted as that of the Austro-Hungarian
Ausgleich. In the years 1 860-1865 the average net revenue of
Austria was 1,187,978,418 florins, that of Hungary 484,687,394
florins, giving a percentage of 7102 and 28-98 respectively;
but their respective contributions were fixed at 70 and 30 per
cent. In the same way the average net revenue of Croatia for
the same period was 31,217,648 florins, thus giving a percent-
age of 64 as against 93 -6 for Hungary. ^°^ Thus it appears that
Hungary's treatment of Croatia was somewhat more generous
than Austria's treatment of Transleithania. Considering
that Croatia formed 12 per cent, of the population of Trans-
leithania in 1869, and 12 -i per cent, at the last census (1900),
she cannot justly describe as excessive her share of the con-
tribution, even though her taxable capacity is generally
admitted to be relatively lower than that of Hungary. More-
over a later paragraph lays down that should Croatian revenue,
by reason of increased taxable strength, exceed the proportion
of joint expenditure to which it is liable (viz. 8-i per cent,
to-day), the surplus is to be retained by Croatia, and that
country is not to be held liable for the deficits of former years
(§ 27). This provision may reasonably be regarded as a
further proof of generous intentions on the part of the Magyar
framers of the Compromise.
Paragraph 13 goes on to state that the total income of
Croatia-Slavonia would not sufiice for the payment of its
share, if the requisite charges for internal affairs were not
greatly curtailed, and that therefore Hungary, " in view of
'"* Horn, op. cit. pp. 203-4.
74
CROATIA'S FINANCIAL POSITION
the renewal of the brotherly'relation which has subsisted for
centuries between it and Croatia-Slavonia," is willing to agree
that a fixed proportion ^°^ of Croatia's income should be ear-
marked for autonomous expenses, and only the remainder
applied to joint expenses.
For this purpose, 45 per cent, (since 1889 44 per cent.) of
all Croatian revenue were reserved for internal affairs, and
the remaining 55 per cent, (since 1889 56 per cent.) trans-
ferred to the Central Treasury. ^^^ The annual interest on
the Croatian Land Redemption Debt is to be paid from Croatian
revenue ; but any excess upon the sum of 2,660,000 florins
(£221,000) is covered by a Joint Guarantee. ^^^
A special Finance Office in Agram, subject to the authority
and nominations of the Joint Finance Minister, controls all
taxation of what we should call an " Imperial " nature, all
stamps, imposts, dues and state domains (§ 22). Those
departments of this Office which deal with purely autonomous
affairs, are " in every respect at the disposal " of the autono-
mous authorities, but strangely enough no provision is made
for the balances being submitted to the Diet but only to the
Joint Finance Minister (§ 23), whom the Croatian Government
and executive are expressly enjoined to support in all his
requirements (§ 24). The object of the omission is quite
evident. The details of revenue and expenditure for Croatia-
Slavonia are to be drawn up at the same time as those for
Hungary, and both are to be laid before the Joint Parliament
in Budapest, and after examination by that body, are to be
" communicated " to the Croatian Diet " for its cognisance "
(§ 28). In other words a vital distinction is tacitly drawn
between the financial powers of the Hungarian and Croatian
parliaments, however carefully the latter's equality as a con-
tracting party may have been safeguarded in other sections
of the document. The Compromise makes no attempt to
define the Budgetary rights of the Croatian Diet ; and indeed
these are involved in great ambiguity. By the Croatian
Article II of 1869 which regulates the details of the autonomous
government, the latter is obliged to submit an annual Budget
"» To be fixed by periodical mutual agreement. For the first ten
years this sum was fixed at 2,200,000 florins (;^i83,ooo).
"» § 17. modified by 1873, XXXIV, § 3 and 1906, X, § 5). Wine
and Meat taxes, and Customs Dues on the Croatian frontier, are specially
excluded from the sources of revenue liable to such division (§ 18 ;
also two unimportant additions to XL, 1889, § 5).
"1 § 21, modified by XXVII, 1891, § 21.
75
COMPROMISE BETWEEN HUNGARY AND CROATIA
to the Diet " for constitutional deliberation " (§ 13 II, 1869).
But this of course merely deals with the income and expendi-
ture connected with the three autonomous Departments of
Local Government, Justice and Education at Agram ; and
means have often been found to evade any effective control,
even of these, by the Croatian Diet. There can be no question
that those Magyar statesmen who were chiefly responsible
for the Compromise — Andrissy, Dedk and Eotvos — were not
merely actuated by the most honourable motives but desired
to treat Croatia with the utmost generosity consistent with
their views of constitutional unity. The financial arrange-
ment faithfully reflects this attitude and seems at first sight
to be highly favourable to Croatia. ^^^ g^t the financial side
of the Compromise was ill and hastily considered, alike on
the Magyar and on the Croatian side ; and while the Magyar
delegates genuinely believed themselves to be making substan-
tial financial concessions (especially in §§ 13, 17, 27) the Croat
delegates on their side fully accepted the view that they were
making a good financial bargain. This fact, and the complete
financial ignorance displayed by the Croatian representatives on
the occasion of the revision of 1873, may be considered as
robbing Croatia of the right of recriminations.
The true test of the financial arrangement is its practical
working ; and when this is considered, it is no longer possible
to deny that Croatia has a great and crying grievance. On
the one hand, the extreme importance of the clauses which
appropriate 45 per cent, of Croatian revenues to autonomous
Croatian expenditure (under §§ 13 and 17) must not be lost
sight of for a moment. But on the other hand it must be
remembered that all financial control, and the entire manipu-
lation and interpretation of the accounts are in the hands of
the central Government at Budapest. The Budgets of the
Central Parliament are voted as single units, and no clue
whatever is given as to the respective contributions of ^the
two countries in many of the entries. Indeed there is not the
slightest trace of any attempt to distinguish between them, al-
though paragraph 29 expressly provides for separate budgetary
entries. There is little or nothing in the Budget itself nor
in the manner in which it is introduced and discussed, to
suggest that it differs in any way from the budgets of unitary
"' This is the view of that extremely impartial writer, Mr. Geoffrey
Drage. {See his Austria-Hungary, pp. 470-74.)
76
FINANCIAL GRIEVANCES
national states such as France or Italy ; and the Croatian
members have no effective means at their disposal for securing
the publication of the missing details. In the words of Mr.
Drage, " Croatia is in the position of a firm which cannot
examine its own books " "^ • ^nd however indisposed we may
be to endorse the view, unfortunately widespread in Croatia,
that the balances are systematically " cooked " to the advan-
tage of Hungary, there can at any rate be no question that
such an obscure arrangement engenders an atmosphere of
suspicion and strain between the two countries, and that the
full light of publicity ought to be thrown as soon as possible
upon the relative financial position of Hungary and Croatia.^^*
The stranger who consults the Hungarian statute book
and runs his eye over the various items of one of the Annual
Budgets which it contains, would gain the impression that
Croatia, as some dependent provincial annexe to the Hungarian
state, had received a freewill offering from purely Hungarian
funds for the behalf of purely Croatian internal administration.
This erroneous view can best be met by Pliverid's succinct
statement. " It is not the Joint Treasury," he points out,
" which hands over a sum of money to Croatia, that it may
cover its autonomous expenses ; but on the contrary it is
the joint financial administration which, in the name of Croatia,
makes over to the Joint Treasury a sum amounting to 55
per cent, of the special revenues of Croatia, for the purpose
of covering the Joint Expenses." ^^^
A further grievance of the Croats is that, since, by contribut-
ing 55 per cent, of her revenue to Joint Affairs, Croatia
absolves herself from all further financial obligations towards
Hungary, she ought not to be held liable for any share in
the public loans carried out in Budapest for purely Hungarian
^'' Op. cit. p. 472.
"* Ivan Bartolovi^ in a Croatian pamphlet cited by Pliveric (p. 457)
argues that Croatia with a net revenue of 15,700,000 florins, would,
after fulfilment of all its obhgations under the Compromise, only have
a deficit of 722,000 florins which could be reduced to the nominal figure
of 80,000 florins.
"» Pliveric, op. cit. p. 445. According to table 10 on p. 505 of vol.
XV, Ungarisches Statistisches Jahrbuch ; in 1903 the net revenue of Croatia-
Slavonia (after the deduction of 8,405,000 crowns for administrative
expenses, was 36,004,000 crowns. Of this (under § 3 XXXIV, 1873)
20,162,000 fell to joint expenditure and 15,842,000 crowns remained
for autonomous expenses, 19,374,000 being actually assigned. Accord-
ing to table II (same page) the total revenue of Croatia amounted to
20,197,000, the total expenditure to 20,329,000 crowns.
77
COMPROMISE BETWEEN HUNGARY AND CROATIA
objects."^ No such liability is imposed by the terms of the
Compromise, or even indirectly hinted at ; and yet Croatia
not merely has to contribute, but does not receive her fair
share of the public moneys expended as a result of such loans.
This grievance would presumably disappear if the relative
budgetary position of the two countries could once be ascer-
tained in detail and made public ; for these facts, once elicited,
would obviously form the basis for apportioning all subsequent
loans. Cavillers would then no longer be in a position to
assert that this is one of the very reasons why the facts are
kept private. Though this would seem to be a needlessly
uncharitable view, there can be no question that at present
Croatia has no effective guarantee against being burdened
with a share of the charges upon purely Hungarian financial
operations. ^^'
(&) The Position of the Ban.
The position of the Ban is full of irreconcilable"contradic-
tions. On the one hand, he is responsible, as head of the
autonomous Government, to the Croatian Diet (§ 50). On
the other hand, he is appointed by His Majesty on the nomina-
tion of the Hungarian Premier (" the Royal Hungarian Joint
Premier," as he is described in § 51). He may not hold military
rank (§ 52), and sits ex officio in the House of Magnates at
Budapest (§ 53). In accordance with paragraph 54, the
organization of the autonomous Government was left in the
hands of the Croatian Diet, and was regulated by it in the
Croatian Article II. of 1869. In its terms it is the duty of
"« In 1907 the interest on State loans was 288,089,000 crowns
(;^i 2,000,000). In the published statistics no attempt is made to
apportion this between the two countries ; in this case nothing is heard
of Croatia's " taxable capacity," upon which such stress is laid in §§ 13,
27 of the Compromise. {See Appendix IX).
"' The Regnicolar Deputation sent out in 1886 by the Croatian Diet
to negotiate a revision of the Compromise, put forward, among others the
following demands : — that the Budget Estimates should be submitted
in three separate sections (for Joint Austro-Hungarian, Joint Hungaro-
Croatian and purely Croatian affairs) ; that the necessary data for
ascertaining the details of revenue should be supplied by the Joint
Government not merely to the Croatian Government (as is at present
done partially and informally) but also to the Croatian Diet ; that the
Croatian delegates should henceforth be excluded from all debates relat-
ing to the financial affairs of Hungary alone. These proposals were not
accepted by Hungary. See ^ivkovic, Zur Saniering der Verletzungen
des kroatisch-ungarischen Ausgleiches, pp. 34-5.
78
THE POSITION OF THE BAN
the Ban to lay before His Majesty, through the medium of
the Croatian Minister, all proposals, motions, nominations
and decisions, relative to Croatian affairs (§ ii, 1869), He has
the right to be present at all debates of the Diet ; as he has
the option of standing as a deputy, he is only free to vote
in a division in the event of having been actually elected ;
but in any case he is boimd to answer, either personally or
through a representative, any interpellations which may be
addressed to him (§ 12, 1869). The Government is bound
to submit the Budget annually to the Diet " for constitutional
debate " (§ 13, 1869). The right of nomination to all offices
of the autonomous Government rests in the hands of the Ban
(§ 16, 1869).
It will be seen that though the Ban is legally responsible
to the Diet, this guarantee is worthless in the event of any
dispute arising between Hungary and Croatia. The office
can only be held by a nominee of the Hungarian Government,
who thus can be selected and is selected for the post because
he adheres to the Hungarian rather than to the Croatian view.
Under the existing system, the Ban must inevitably remain
an " exponent " of the Hungarian Premier, to use the blunt
phrase of Dr. Wekerle, a recent holder of the latter office.
He can only communicate with the sovereign on Croatian
matters, through the medium of the Croatian Minister, who,
being a member of the Hungarian Cabinet, is of course ap-
pointed by the Premier. Thus Croatia is doubly fenced off
from the Crown, and its wishes and claims reach the royal
presence by the mouth of two Magyar nominees. In such
circumstances it is difficult to see how the Crown can form a
really impartial opinion upon Croatian affairs.
If this be the result in one direction of the Hungarian Pre-
mier's power, in another direction it is equally injurious to
Croatian interests. Every office of any importance in Croatia
is in the gift of the Ban, and thus indirectly exposed to Magyar-
one influence. This is all the more serious because the adminis-
trative officials and the judicature of Croatia do not in any way
enjoy an independent position, but are liable to continual
and open pressure from above. Officials who do not follow
the political guidance of their superiors, may be passed over,
transferred, even placed upon the pension list or dismissed
altogether. This practice has been almost universal in Croatia
for the last thirty years, and serves to explain alike the stagna-
tion of public life under Count Khuen-Hedervary and the
79
COMPROMISE BETWEEN HUNGARY AND CROATIA
emphasis with which all Croatian reformers have demanded
a law guaranteeing the independence of the Bench and of
officialdom in general. It is equally obvious that the tendency
in Budapest is to hinder a reform which would purify public
life in Croatia and thus rally the whole nation in defence of
national claims. Stagnation and corruption are to-day the
only supports of Magyar domination in Croatia ; once modern-
ize the prevailing system, and that domination is instantly
at an end.
Perhaps the most serious flaw in the whole document is
that it makes no provision for enforcing its observance by the
two contracting parties. There has never been any great
difficulty in enforcing Croatia's compliance with its provisions.
But as national feeling grew more violent and aggressive
among the Magyars, infringements on their part became
more and more frequent, and protests were unavailing. The
revisions of 1880, 1881, 1889 and 1891, were the result of a
skilful system of packing the Croatian Diet with subservient
elements : while the less unfavourable revision of 1906 was
accepted by the Croats, not as in any way dispelling their
grievances, but as the price which they had to pay in return
for a free hand in internal reform. ^^^ The really vital infringe-
ments of the Compromise continued unabated, and were
extended still further in the summer of 1907. Thus Hungary's
position has for some years been that of the chairman of a
commercial company, who met the indignant protests of
shareholders with the curt remark, " Protest away, gentlemen :
it will make no difference ! "
Territorial Questions.
We have already seen that Croatia-Slavonia is formally
recognized as " a political nation possessing a special territory
of its own " (§ 59). But paragraph 65 goes still further and
not merely recognizes, in the name of Hungary, " Croatia's
territorial integrity," but also promises Hungarian help in
the extension of that territory in two directions — the Military
Frontiers and Dalmatia. The reincorporation of the former
with Croatia did actually take place in 1881, though the military
authorities in Vienna had interposed considerable delays.
" The reincorporation of Dalmatia " is claimed as a right of
" the Holy Hungarian Crown " (§ 65), which had held sway
"* Of course, a fresh breach occurred before they had had time to
effect these reforms. See Chapter VIII.
80
THE POSITION OF FIUME
over that kingdom during the Middle Ages. " Meanwhile,
regarding the conditions of this reincorporation Dalmatia is
also to be heard."
In other words, the Compromise recognizes the Triune
Kingdom as comprising Dalmatia, and tacitly denies the
legality of its occupation by Austria. Indeed, in the preamble
and elsewhere the document is treated as an agreement between
Hungary on the one side and " Croatia-Slavonia and Dalmatia "
on the other, as though the union were already an accomplished
fact. This very practical concession to Southern Slav national
sentiment, has had its share in reviving the old Illyrian ideal
under the modern name of Trialism, But Croatian patriots
base their aspirations for union not upon Hungarian con-
stitutional law, but upon the rival " Staatsrecht " of the
Crown of Zvonimir and upon the idea of racial unity. The
support which both parties were wont to expect from the
German nationalists in Austria — on the ground that the cession
of Dalmatia to Hungary would rid Austria of 600,000 Slavs
— is less likely to be accorded to-day, when the great importance
of the Southern Slav question is being gradually borne in
upon the minds of Austrian politicians.
Meanwhile " the territorial integrity " of Croatia, so solemnly
affirmed in the Compromise, was violated in one important
particular. The town and harbour of Fiume were expressly
excluded, as forming " a special body attached to the Hun-
garian Crown (separatum sacrae regni coronae adnexum
corpus) " (§ 66). Its autonomy and constitutional position
are to be defined later as the result of a joint agreement between
the Parliament of Hungary, the Croatian Diet and the town
itself.
This paragraph has an extraordinary history. Incredible
as it may seem, the Magyar and Croat texts are completely
at variance, and in the explicit form summarized above it
has passed into operation without receiving the sanction of
the Croatian Diet. The variant texts run as follows : —
Magyar text (§ 66). Croat text (§ 66).
In the sense of the preceding In the sense of the preceding
paragraph there are recognized paragraph it is recognized that
as belonging to the territory of the territorial extent of the King-
Croatia Slavonia and Dalmatia : — doms of Dalmatia, Croatia and
I. That district which at pres- Slavonia comprises : —
ent together with the town and i. The whole district which
district of Buccari belongs to the at present, together with the town
S.S.Q. 81 G
COMPROMISE BETWEEN HUNGARY AND CROATIA
Magyar text (§ 66) . Croat text (§ 66) .
County of Fiume, with the excep- of Buccari and its district, belongs
tion of the town and district of to the County of Fiume, with the
Fiume. The town, harbour and exception of the town of Fiume
district of Fiume form a special and its district, regarding which
body connected with the Hun- an agreement could not be reached
garian Crown (separatum sacrae between the two Regnicolar Deputa-
regni coronae adnexum corpus), iions. . . .
concerning whose special auto-
nomy and the legislative and
administrative affairs relating
thereto, an agreement will have
to be reached by means of negotia-
tions between the Hungarian
Parliament, the Diet of Croatia
Slavonia and Dalmatia and the
town of Fiume in joint under-
standing. . . .
The two versions of the document were in due course sub-
mitted to His Majesty for signature ; and a thin strip of
paper ^^^ bearing on it a translation of the Magyar version, as
given above, was then stuck over the corresponding portion
of the Croat text ! ! The original document is preserved in
the Croatian Archives, where this singular falsification of an
important State document may be verified. The interpolated
passage is not even in the same handwriting as the rest of
the document.120
It thus appears that the definition of Fiume as " separatum
sacrae regni coronae adnexum corpus" has never received
the sanction of the Croatian Diet, and is a one-sided claim
of Hungary, unproved and merely upheld by superior force.
The question is still open. In reality, however, it is not and
will not be decided by grounds of law and right, but by its
strategic importance as Hungary's only possible outlet to
the sea and by the expenditure lavished upon its port by
the Government of Budapest. At present the Magyars are
able to rely upon the Italian element in the town, owing to
its fears of the advancing Croats and their foolish persistence
in regarding Fiume as an exclusively Croat town. But if an
understanding between Croat and Italian could once be reached,
— a contingency likely to follow the approaching truce be-
tween the two nationalities in Dalmatia — or if the Croat ele-
119 22-7 X 9'8 centimeters in dimension.
^20 Zakoni Ugarsko-Hrvatskoj Nagodi {Laws relative to the Hungaro-
Croatian Compromise), edited by Dr. Ivan Bojnicic, Zagreb, 1907, pp.
33-34-
82
RIVAL VIEWS
ment should once gain the upper hand (and this must of course
be a far longer process), Magyar rule will have no basis in
Fiume save the bayonet.
Even the Magyar version, however, contemplates an agree-
ment regulating what is avowedly an irregular and provisional
situation. But no negotiations have ever taken place since
1868 ; Croatia reasserts from time to time its theoretical right
to the possession of Fiume, and Hungary continues to act
upon the ancient principle of Beati possidentes.
The final paragraph (§ 70) declares the Hungaro-Croatian
Compromise to be a " joint fundamental law " of the two
countries, which cannot form the subject of debate in either
legislature, and can only be altered by a procedure similar to
that adopted in 1868, in other words by an agreement between
deputations of the two Parliaments.
The Hungaro-Croatian Compromise is susceptible to very
varied interpretations. The extreme Magyar view regards
it as a law of the Hungarian Parliament, merely registered by
the Croatian Diet ^^i ; while the extreme Croat view declines
even to recognize its binding force, and even many of those
who recognize it, maintain that Croatia legally enjoys a
position of absolute equality with Hungary and a distinct
citizenship of its own. Each of these views is equally removed
from the truth, for each is based upon what, in its holders'
opinion, ought to be the relations of the two countries. We
may hold what opinion we like as to the former status of
Croatia — the betrayals which have robbed her of her ancient
rights (so the Croats would argue) or the unwise and excessive
concessions which enabled a mere province to pose as a kingdom
(so the Magyars would argue). But if we consider the question
with an exclusive regard to the document of 1868, only one
conclusion is possible. Croatia is a sovereign state, which
by a voluntary agreement with her neighbour, definitely
surrendered certain attributes of sovereignty, and thus can
only recover its full freedom of action by the permission of
that neighbour or by force of arms. Thus Croatia cannot be
said to fall under any known category of states, but rather
occupies a middle position of its own, between that of pure
independence and that of pure federalism. That its relations
*^i Even Prof. Kmety, the constitutional authority, takes this view
[Kozjog, p. 397). "Croatia is not a state, but the Croatian people
is a nation." So writes the well-known Magyar publicist Beksics
in his book Dualism (p. 251). This is mere juggling with words.
COMPROMISE BETWEEN HUNGARY AND CROATIA
with Hungary are the result of a solemn contract between two
theoretically equal contracting parties, cannot be denied by
any one who reads the Compromise of 1868 : it is conclusively
proved by the manner in which it was promulgated by the
two legislatures, by the use of the identical word to describe
them both, and by the clause which makes all revisions depend-
ent upon mutual consent. Nor can it on the other hand
be denied that the first four paragraphs impose definite restric-
tions upon the sovereignty of the Croatian state. The question
of the validity of the Compromise and the further question,
how far violations on the one side dispense the other side
from its obligations, are two entirely separate considerations
with which we are not at present concerned.
84
CHAPTER V
Croatia under the Dual System
(1868-1905)
" My coimtrymen have treated Croatia badly, prevented its develop-
ment, and exploited it financially ; they will pay for this one day." —
Baron Kdllay in 1903. ^^^
WHATEVER view may be taken of the provisions of the
Hungaro-Croatian Compromise, there can be no
question that it was intensely unpopular in Croatia. The
hasty introduction of an illegal franchise and the gross electoral
abuses thus rendered possible, the casual and inadequate
manner in which a " packed " Diet passed so fundamental a
law, the manipulation of the clause regulating the status of
Fiume — all this aroused general indignation ; and but for
official pressure it would have been quite impossible to obtain
a majority in the Diet ready to sanction what was regarded as
a betrayal of the national cause.
Yet questionable as were the means employed, an open
breach between Croatia and Hungary such as must inevitably
have resulted if the former country had been truly represented
during the negotiations, would have been far more injurious
to Croatian interests than the acceptance of an honourable,
if inadequate Compromise. The political constellation, alike
in the Habsburg Monarchy and in Europe generally, was
highlj' favourable to Hungary, and Croatia suffered the inevit-
able fate of a weak and forgotten nation. ^^3 jsJqj- ca.n the
Magyars be blamed for their attitude towards Croatia. The
statesmen who framed the Compromise, and notably De4k
*'^ In conversation with the Vienna Correspondent of the Times (see
Times, December 31, 1909).
'^^ Mr. Kadlec, professor of constitutional law at Prague University,
is fully entitled to say : " The Hungaro-Croatian Compromise, like
all political questions, is a question of power," Ustava, p. 129, cit.
Zagorsky, Frangois Racki, p. 100.
85
CROATIA UNDER THE DUAL SYSTEM
and Eotvos, two of the most liberal-minded men that ever
lived, were genuinely anxious to revive the former friendly-
relations between the sister countries ; and indeed, if Magyar
theories of State-Right be considered and if due allowance be
made for their Imperialist aspirations in the Balkans and on
the Adriatic and for the embarrassments afforded by a Chauvin-
ist opposition, their treatment of Croatia must seem most
liberal and conciliatory.
Such a point of view, however, could hardly be expected to
appeal to Croatian public opinion, which resented the arrange-
ment all the more on account of the apparent unanimity with
which it had been concluded. Strangely enough, the National
Liberal Party, whose grave tactical error in adopting the
policy of political abstention had rendered this unanimity
possible, did not thereby lose its popularity with the country.
Round it centred the chief opposition against Baron Ranch ;
while a little band of resolute extremists under Antony Star-
cevic continued to proclaim the impossible ideal of a purely
Personal Union with Hungary and Austria on equal terms.
Baron Ranch allowed no scruples to stand in the way
of his political aims, and made a determined effort to crush
opposition by disciplinary action against such of his oppo-
nents as held official posts, by the dismissal of professors
and others, by strict muzzling of the press and by pro-
hibition of meetings and political organization. The
struggle was waged on both sides with the utmost vio-
lence ; and an evil habit which has so often envenomed and
disfigured Southern Slav politics — the tendency to indulge in
unmeasured personalities — made itself only too apparent. The
leading Opposition newspaper, Pozor, which had been suppressed
in Croatia but continued to appear in Vienna, was now pro-
hibited altogether (May 6, 1869). In the following September,
its owners founded a new paper in Sisak, under the title of
Zatocnik (The Champion) and opened in its columns a
merciless campaign against the misdeeds of Ranch. The Ban
was openly accused of using his position as member of a Con-
sortium for draining the Lonjski Polje marshes, in order to
enrich himself at the expense of his country. Some colour was
given to this accusation by the declaration of Count Julius
Jankovic that he also as member of the same board of directors
had been tempted with the prospect of a sum of 40,000 florins
(£3,330), but had thereupon resigned his position on the Board.
Rauch prosecuted the authors of the libel, but as the newspaper
86
REPRESSION UNDER R.\UCH
was published on the territory of the Mihtary Frontiers, the
case came before a court ^^^ which was entirely free from the
Ban's influence and resulted in the acquittal of the accused
(January 8, 1871).
This verdict was, of course, a fatal blow to Baron Ranch's
position. He resigned almost immediately, and was succeeded
as Ban by Koloman Bedekovic (January 26, 1871), a moderate
Croat Unionist who had till then held the position of Minister
for Croatia and was generally esteemed as an honest if weak
politician. The new Government dissolved the Diet and
ordered fresh elections, but, deprived of the masterful hand of
Ranch, found it impossible to maintain the artificial majority
which he had created. The elections resulted in a decisive
victory for the National Party, which secured fifty-one out of
the sixty-five seats. Only thirteen Unionists were returned,
while Starcevic entered Parliament as the solitary exponent of
the Pan-Croat idea.
The Government, seemingly unprepared for this result and
perhaps disheartened by the prospect of a collapse of Dualism, ^^s
hesitated as to what policy to adopt, and prorogued the Sabor
no less than three times. This evoked a counter demonstration
from the Opposition, in the shape of the so-called " September
Manifesto " (September 20, 1871) signed by fifty-four out of
the sixty-six deputies. This document boldly denies the validity
of the Compromise of 1868, declares that the Diet which passed
it into law had no right to speak in the name of the nation, and
that Croatia could not submit to the dependence of the Ban
upon the Hungarian Premier.^^s
The general discontent found open expression during the
autumn of 1871, when two adherents of the Starcevic idea,
Eugene Kvaternik and Louis Bach ^^ gathered round them
several hundred armed Frontiersmen, and incited the peasantry
in the neighbourhood of Ogulin to rebellion. They sought to
win recruits for their mad project by announcing the prospect
of French and Turkish support. Martial law was proclaimed :
the insurgents were soon dispersed by General MoUinary and
124 In Petrinja,
"» Under Count Hohenwart as Austrian Premier, the Federal idea
seemed on the point of triumphing over DuaHsm, and the Emperor had
already consented to be crowned in Prague as King of Bohemia. The
Prussian victories over France, and the influence of Count Andrassy,
led to Hohenwart's fall and the abandonment of his policy.
'^ For a summary, see PoUc, Parlam. Povijest, II, p. 152, sqq.
'-' Zagorsky, p. 141.
^7
CROATIA UNDER THE DUAL SYSTEM
the garrison of Karlovac ; and the two leaders were shot and
other severe punishments imposed.
This hare-brained enterprise sowed discouragement and
alarm among the ranks of the National Party, for on the one
hand it aroused the suspicions of distant Vienna against Croatia
as a whole and on the other hand won for the intrigues of Baron
Rauch the waning support of Budapest and of the Sovereign.
The result was the formation of a moderate central party in
Croatia, under the influence of Archbishop Mihalovi6 of Zagreb ;
round it there rallied all those Unionists who though eager to
maintain friendship with Budapest, were not inclined to pur-
chase it by the subserviency and corrupt methods of Baron
Rauch, 128 2jid also those members of the National Party who
were anxious for peace. This concentration of the moderate
elements in the country was under the circumstances the wisest
course which could have been adopted, and had been ren-
dered all the more necessary by the renewed activity of Baron
Rauch, and his confederate Vakanovi6, who on the resignation
of Bedekovic (February 12, 1872) discharged the duties of
the Ban's office, pending a new appointment.
The Sabor was dissolved without having been allowed to
transact any business, and Vakanovic set himself to create an
Unionist majority. But despite scandalous electoral abuses
the result of the new elections was a decided victory for the
National Party, which retained forty-seven seats, eight fall-
ing to the Independent Unionists and only the remaining twenty
to Rauch and his friends. ^^^ Vakanovi6 sought to counteract
his ill success at the polls by swamping the Sabor with forty-
seven Virilists, drawn from the ranks of the nobles and the
higher clergy, and carefully selected because of their Unionist
views.
Meanwhile, Vakanovid and Rauch had inaugurated a violent
campaign of calumny, intended to compromise the National
Party in the eyes of Budapest and Vienna, and to drive its
leaders from public life. To this end the charge was put for-
ward, that two emissaries of the Bohemian Opposition parties,
by name Oliva and Skrejsovsky, had held political conferences
in Agram, at which the National Party had committed itself
to negotiations with the exiled Kossuth and to a revolutionary
movement among the Southern Slavs. Minutes of these alleged
128 por instance, Count Ladislas Peja^evic, afterwards Ban, and
the ex-Ban Bedekovic.
^=» Horvat, p. 284.
88
A POLICY OF FORGERY
meetings were forthcoming, and seemed to establish the con-
nexion of the leading Croat politicians, notably the poet and
future Ban Mazuranic, Bishop Strossmayer, the historian Racki,
Mrazovic and Voncina, with the headquarters of Panslavism in
St. Petersburg and Belgrad. The names of such Russian
statesmen as Miljutin and Tolstoi are repeatedly mentioned :
an emissary of the latter is alleged to have intrigued in Agram
under an assumed name. Strossmayer and Racki are to be
sounded as to their acceptance of Russian decorations. Money
is promised by a Slav committee of action, for the foundation of
a revolutionary paper in Croatia. Plans for a rising in the
Military Frontiers, with the aid of Belgrad, are laid before the
committee. The final document contains a statement of the
electoral funds placed at the disposal of the National Party by
committees in St. Petersburg, Moscow and Odessa, by the
2ivnostenska Banka in Prague, and by Jovan Ristic, the Regent
of Servia. It subsequently transpired that these " minutes "
were forgeries of a certain Reichherzer, who himself brought
the facts to light. Though Ranch and Vakanovic were directly
and openly accused of inspiring the forger, no attempt was ever
made on their part to rebut the charges ; and rightly or wrongly
their complicity is treated in Croatia to-day as an established
fact. Whatever may be the true secret history of the docu-
ments, their purpose is too self-evident to be mistaken. The
Deak Party and its leader. Count Lonyay were to be deterred
from negotiating with the National Party : the Sovereign was
to be persuaded that Strossmayer and the chief Croatian patriots
were traitors and conspirators ; and after the collapse of the
only party capable of upholding Croatian claims, Baron
Ranch was to return to power as the satrap of a submissive
province. The use of forged documents as a political weapon
was thus introduced into Croatian politics. ^^^ A generation later,
^^ A pamphlet entitled Croatia on the Torture-Bench, which appeared
at the end of 1872 and caused a profound sensation in pohtical circles,
professed to expose the scandalous intrigues to which Ranch and
Vakanovic resorted, in order to prevent the approaching entente be-
tween the National Party and Count Lonyay. According to its author.
Ranch's emissary in Vienna conducted the intrigue through a certain
Frau Goldmayer, with whom Lonyay was intimate, and even obtained
the indirect support of Count Andrassy for his intrigue. {See Zagorsky,
Franfois Racki, p. 143.) For the facts contained in this paragraph,
see the rare pamphlet, Enthiillungen tiber die Kiinsie der Kroatischen
Regierung (Extraabdruck aus der Prager " Politik," No. 121, vom 2
Mai 1872) and Iz crnoga list a nedavne proslosti (From a black page
of the Recent Past), Varazdin, 1904.
89
CROATIA UNDER THE DUAL SYSTEM
under Baron Levin Rauch's own son, the same methods ol
forgery were made the groundwork of Austria's foreign poHcy,
and dragged the name of Croatia into the forefront of a
European scandal.
The situation was saved by the tact and conciliatory attitude
of Count Lonyay, who had succeeded Andrassy as Hungarian
Premier on the latter's appointment as Austro-Hungarian
Foreign Minister. Lonyay, who had a year previously con-
ducted negotiations with the leaders of the National Party,
endeavoured to find a common basis of action between it and
its Unionist rival ; and eventually the two parties agreed to
halve between them the Croatian delegation to the Joint Parlia-
ment, and also the Regnicolar deputation ^^^ which was to nego-
tiate with Hungary a revision of the Compromise. The latter,
which included Bishop Strossmayer, Mazuranic, 2ivkovic,
Mrazovic, appeared in Budapest, and on November 6, formu-
lated its demands in a " Nuntium " or message to the Hungarian
delegation. The main demands were five in number.
(i) The five Croat members of the Joint Delegations ^^'^ should
be elected by the Croat delegates in the Parliament of
Budapest, not by the whole House. ^^^
(2) The Ban should be nominated by the King's own act of
authority, and not on the proposal of the Hungarian
Premier — in other words, the Ban should be released
from the humiliating position of an " exponent " of
Magyar policy.
(3) The Ban should receive the title of " Minister for Dal-
matia-Croatia-Slavonia," a title corresponding to that
of " Landes-Minister " in Austria. This would serve
to lay further emphasis upon his responsibility to the
Croatian Sabor.
(4) Croatia should acquire full control over its own revenues,
paying over to the Joint Treasury the regular annual
sum due as its contribution to Joint Affairs (cf. p 74).
^31 The formal name given to the committees which negotiate any
revision of the Compromise.
"2 § 41, XXX, 1868.
"3 The object of this demand was to ensure that the majority among
the delegates to Budapest should obtain a majority of the five seats
in the Joint Delegations. Under the present system the Croats, only
numbering 40 out of 453, are completely at the mercy of the Magyar
majority in the House in the matter of the selection of the five Croat
delegates.
90
REVISION OF THE COMPROMISE
(5) The Croatian Minister in Budapest should not be em-
powered to interfere in any way with Croatian autono-
my, but should rather fill the position of representative
of Croatian interests at all Cabinet meetings.
As the^Hungarian delegation categorically refused its assent
to these demands, Strossmayer and certain other delegates who
shared his views withdrew from Budapest ; and those who
remained had to content themselves with a greatly modified
scheme of revision. The position of the Croatian Minister was,
it is true, defined more clearly, but he of course remained as
before the channel of communication between the Croatian
Government and the Sovereign. Henceforth he was bound
to submit " unaltered and without delay " all the reports of the
Ban to His Majesty, and was only at liberty to add his own
commentary, or that of the Hungarian Government, " if doubts
should arise respecting the state connexion established by
Article XXX of 1868."
Croatia's contribution to the Joint Treasury was definitely
fixed at 55 per cent, of her total revenues. ^^^ Finally, as a con-
stitutional guarantee of some value, it was laid down that the
Croatian Sabor must be convoked within three months of its
dissolution. Thus such modifications as were introduced into
the Compromise were all in favour of Croatia, but most of the
changes which its representatives held to be indispensable, fell
before the veto of Hungary. ^^^
None the less, it was widely felt that they were the best terms
obtainable, and when the completed bill was laid before the
Sabor in the summer of 1873, only seven deputies — among them
the historian Racki — could be found to vote for the hostile
motion which described it as satisfying " neither the rights nor
the requirements " of the Triune Kingdom. On September 5,
the revision was adopted by seventy-nine votes to ten, and
the [conflict between Hungary and Croatia seemed at length
to have been allayed.
On September 20, 1873, the office of Ban, so long administered
by the intriguing Vakanovic, was at length filled by the appoint-
ment of Ivan Mazuranic, who had presided over the Croatian
Aulic Chancellory until its dissolution in 1869, but whose emin-
ent political services are less remembered to-day than his
authorship of the famous Croat epic " CengiC Aga." The
134 5ee Appendix VI, modification of XXX, § 17 by 1873, XXXIV, §3.
136 Horvat, p. 284 ; Zagorsky, p. 145.
91
CROATIA UNDER THE DUAL SYSTEM
appointment of " The Peasant Ban," as Mazuranic was popu-
larly called — being the first Ban ever appointed who was not
of noble rank — was hailed with general enthusiasm and ushered
in a period of important administrative and educational reforms.
Numerous public institutions were founded, the prison system
reorganized, a Statistical Office established. School attend-
ance was made obligatory, and although lack of funds and of
the necessary teaching staff rendered the enforcement of this
measure impossible,^'* a good beginning, at any rate, was made.
Liberty of the Press was extended, the arbitrary methods of
the " Bach Patent " of 1852 (which still remained in force)
being superseded by Jury Trial for all Press offences, A
fairly liberal law was introduced guaranteeing the Right ol
Assembly, while another law assigned to the Sabor the right
of holding responsible, or even impeaching, the Ban "for any
act or omission of his " such as might injuriously affect
Croatia's constitutional position.
An act of May 31, 1875, provided for the complete separa-
tion of the executive and judicial arms — a separation which
was, unhappily, not destined to maintain itself in practice. ^^'
Meanwhile, the seeds of future trouble were sown by a minor
innovation which owed its origin to the Ban's enthusiasm for
Western * ' liberal ' ' ideas . A bill was passed excluding the clergy
from the management of the schools, while prescribing certain
prayers and recitation of the Catechism as part of the regular
school curriculum. This aroused fierce opposition from the
Orthodox clergy, and was the main cause of the formation of
a Serb party in Croatia and of the subsequent dissensions
between Croats and Serbs which placed the country for
well-nigh thirty years at the mercy of Budapest.
' Of all the many changes which took place in Croatia during
Mazuranic's term of office, two events deserve special mention.
On October ig, 1874, the University of Agram was inaugurated,
and the untiring efforts of Bishop Strossmayer in the course of
national culture, were thus after thirteen years crowned with
success. ^^^ At first a number of its professors had to be re-
1'* Even to-day in Croatia, as in Hungary, the number of children
who visit no school is very great. In the years 1 891-5 the average
number of children actually visiting school was 179,670, or 64 per cent. ;
in the years 1896-igoo, 196,920, or 609 per cent. ; in 1901, 199,292
out of 321,451 (i.e., 62 per cent.) ; in 1907, 241,262 out of 370,725
(65 per cent.). See Ung. Stat. Jahrbuch, xii, p. 352, and xv, p. 320.
"' Especially under Khuen H6derv&ry and Rauch.
138 5gg pp^ 123-4
9a
THE MILITARY FRONTIERS
cruited from other Slav races, especially from Bohemia ^^ ; but
this difficulty, common to all new institutions, was success-
fully overcome. Though lacking a medical faculty and though
hampered by the refusal of reciprocity of degrees with the
universities of Austria, the new University soon became a
centre of learning for all the Croats, Serbs and Slovenes of the
Habsburg dominions, and can to-day fairly compete with the
better endowed university of Belgrad.
While from a cultural point of view nothing could surpass in
importance the erection of the first Southern Slav University,
the re-incorporation of the old Military Frontiers at length
restored Croatia-Slavonia to the position which they had occu-
pied before the Turkish invasion. The first step had already
been taken by a Royal Rescript of June 8, 1871, granting to
the " Frontiers " constitutional rights corresponding exactly
to those enjoyed by Croatia. The perpetual military service
to which the Granitchars had hitherto been liable was replaced
by the rules of Universal Service applicable to the rest of the
Monarchy ^"^ ; and a further stage in the change from a military
to a civil regime was now effected by an Act of September 8,
1873. None the less, despite the eagerness displayed by Mazur-
anic, the union still remained very largely on paper and its con-
summation was not reached till July 15, 1881, when the old
regime in the " Military Frontiers " was finally swept away.
The chief merit of Mazuranic as Ban was the perseverance
with which he devoted himself to the task of introducing really
modern administrative methods in Croatia. In addressing the
newly-appointed High Sheriffs in April, 1875, he had roundly
declared, that " an end at last be put to the officials regard-
ing the people as a legacy, whom it was their profession to
exploit," and that nothing would please him more than to be
remembered as the founder of a good administration. ^*i If his
successors in office succeeded in infecting the Croatian execu-
tive with those habits of intrigue, favouritism and intimidation
in which Magyar administration has always excelled, it is
at any rate impossible to blame the " Peasant Ban " for this
unhappy state of affairs.
The Bosnian insurrection, which broke out in July, 1875, and
proved far too formidable for the Turks to quell, placed Mazur-
"• Contemporary scoffers nicknamed Agram University " the Uni-
versity of St. Wenceslas," an allusion to the national Saint of Bohemia.
"0 Horvat, p. 286.
^*^ Rogge, Oesterreich seii der Katastrophe Hohenwari-Beust, ii, p. 54.
93
CROATIA UNDER THE DUAL SYSTEM
ani6 in a most equivocal position, which eventually proved
altogether fatal to his popularity. Croatian national senti-
ment was thoroughly roused by the sufferings of the Bosnian
population and the endless tales of Turkish atrocities, and
clamoured for action ; while in Budapest, on the other hand,
enthusiasm for the Turks ran high and the unrest noticeable
among the Croats and Serbs of the Triune Kingdom, and the
southern counties of Hungary proper ^^^ ■y^as frowned upon by
the Magyar Chauvinists as a proof of Panslav sympathies and
Russian intrigue. In certain districts of Bosnia Francis Joseph
was hailed by the insurgents as the " Croat King " (hrvatski
kralj). Volunteers joined them from all the Slav races of
the Monarchy. Above all, crowds of refugees, especially women
and children, found their way into Croatia and Dalmatia. The
maintenance of these unfortunates soon became a serious pro-
blem, even affecting the neutrality of the Monarchy ; and it was
hardly to be wondered at that, when the new Sabor assembled in
August, 1875, and when'' the Speech from the Throne carefully
avoided all reference to ,.the rising, the leader of the extreme
Opposition, Makanec, brought an interpellation, urging that the
Diet should provide the refugees with money and medical
assistance. The Ban in his reply declared such matters to be
outside the competence of the Sabor, and warned the Opposi-
tion that a continuance of its tactics might easily lead to a
dissolution^'*^ ; and in this attitude he was supported by the great
majority of the Diet, despite the sentiments of the country at
large.
In the following year (1876) excitement rose to fever pitch ;
and when on July 2 Servia and Montenegro declared war upon
the Turks, the belief in the re-establishment of a Southern Slav
kingdom was already widespread. Meanwhile, public opinion
in Budapest was more Turcophil than ever, a torchlight pro-
cession appeared beneath the window of the Ottoman Consul ;
wreaths were deposited upon the half-forgotten grave of Giil
Baba, the Turkish dervish ; and in the late autumn a sword
of honour, bought by public subscription, was carried to Con-
stantinople by a special deputation of Magyar students, and
presented to Abdul Kerim, the commander of the Turkish
armies against Servia. The Hungarian Government — then
under the guidance of that masterful and unscrupulous Chau-
vinist, Coloman Tisza — had already treated the Slovaks, Rou-
^*^ The Voivodina of 1851-60. '" Rogge, op. cit. ii, p. 66.
94
THE EASTERN CRISIS
manians and Saxons far too brutally to require any further
prompting, and repressive measures were now adopted against
the Serbs of the Banat. Dr. Svetozar Miletic, the Serb leader,
who had offered to raise a corps of Serb volunteers in the
cause of Christian Slavdom, was thrown into prison, in defi-
ance of his immunity as member of the Hungarian Parliament.
Arrests and inquiries were made throughout the Banat,
sixty persons being examined in Verseczalone.^^^ By orders of
General Mollinary, the commander of the Agram garrison (who
was credited with being in secret accord with Ranch, Tisza
and Andrassy in the Magyar interest), the former leader of the
Serb rising in 1848, General Stratimirovic, was arrested in
Semlin ; but the absurdity of the suspicions directed against
him was clear from the fact that he had just been expelled
from Belgrad owing to his bitter hostility to Tschernajev,^^ and
he was soon afterwards released. Miletic's colleague Kas-
pinovic shared his fate, and both were put on trial for high
treason, on the ground of their connexion with the leaders of
the Omladina ^^^ in Belgrad and their efforts to raise Serb volun-
teers for Prince Milan's campaign against the Turks. The fact
that Miletic had been received in audience by Milan and had
publicly toasted the prince as " King of the Serbs " and har-
angued in favour of " the liberation of the Serbs from Magyar
and Mongol yoke," was pounced upon by the Public Prosecutor.
The usual methods of the police state were employed to
secure his conviction, and a former secretary of Stratimirovic
was induced to figure as informer. Eventually, Miletic was
sentenced for his alleged separatist tendencies to five years'
imprisonment ; in prison his reason left him, and he did not
long survive his consequent release.
Meanwhile, Mazuranic, in response to peremptory orders
from Budapest, joined in the hunt for traitors, and numerous
arrests were made in Croatia-Slavonia. A store of pamphlets
and flyleaves for the people were found in the possession of the
Archpriest Begovic in Karlovac. The editor of the frontier
newspaper Granicar was found to be in correspondence
with the Servian statesman Ristic. Four brewery assistants
were caught in the attempt to smuggle cases of dynamite into
Servia. Finally Axentinovic, the President of the Essek
Chamber of Commerce, was arrested as an agent of the Belgrad
Government. The most childish legends were circulated, and
1** Ibid. p. 1 08. 1^^ The Russian envoy in Servia.
^*' A well-known student society. A
95
CROATIA UNDER THE DUAL SYSTEM
were welcomed by a still more childish credulity on the part of
the authorities ; and when in the autumn the inevitable fiasco
arrived and most of the prisoners had to be released, no end
had been gained save that the Serbs of the Triune Kingdom
were thoroughly exasperated and in just such a frame of mind
as rendered it easy for the Magyars to play off Croat and Serb
against each other and so to reduce the country to long years
of impotence.
The outbreak of the Russo-Turkish War transferred the
centre of interest from the Western to the Eastern Balkans ;
but the Dual Monarchy's period of " masterly inactivity "
at length came to an end, when on July 4, 1878, the Congress of
Berlin entrusted her with a mandate to occupy Bosnia and
Herzegovina in the interests of Western civilization. No time
was wasted in acting upon the suggestion, but the two preced-
ing years of neutrality and intrigue had destroyed all sympathy
for Austria-Hungary among the inhabitants of the insurgent
provinces, who were wellnigh unanimous in their desire for
union with Servia and Montenegro. The mandate of Europe
had to be imposed by force of arms, and the Austrian troops
met with a prolonged and desperate resistance. As on so
many other occasions, Croat soldiers played a distinguished part
in the campaign, and the supreme command was entrusted to
two Croat generals, Filipovic and Jovanovic. In spite of the
large number of troops employed to quell the insurrection —
not less than 150,000 in all — a guerilla warfare was prolonged
into the winter, the Austrian losses were very considerable,
and horrid excesses — natural to a people which had endured for
four centuries the atrocities of Turkish rule — were perpetrated
against the invaders.^*' It was not till January i, 1879, that the
new Government could be definitely established at Sarajevo.
The bitter disappointment which the course of recent events
had aroused in Croatia was reflected in the Sabor's Address to the
Throne on September 28, 1878. In this, not content with
repeating its old demands for the reincorporation of Dalmatia,
the final absorption of the Military Frontiers, and a clear defini-
tion of Flume's constitutional position, the Diet expressed the
conviction that a permanent solution of the task now assumed
by the Monarchy could only be attained if in the course of
time Bosnia and Herzegovina were annexed to the Triune King-
*" The Bosnians of that period shared with the Herreros the hideous
practice of mutilating their wounded enemies.
96
"THE CAVALIER-BAN"
dom. The Address was greeted by a storm of abuse from the
Magyar press, and at the instance of his Hungarian advisers,
Francis Joseph was led to remark that " the Sabor had ex-
ceeded its sphere of action, in speaking of Bosnia and Herze-
govina." 1*^ " It is the Duahst poHcy," wrote the despondent
Racki to a friend, " which has prevented the incorporation of
Bosnia and Herzegovina in Croatia. The peace of San Ste-
fano is, in my opinion, for the Balkan Peninsula what the peace
of Villafranca was for Italy and that of Prague for German}^" i**
As time passed and the final incorporation of the Military
Frontiers was still delayed, Mazuranic grew more and more im-
patient, and at length was unwise enough to threaten to resign
unless some action were taken, both in the matter of the
Frontiers and of the revision of the financial provisions of the
Compromise. The Magyars, who were only too glad to be
rid of Mazuranic, readily accepted his resignation (February
21, 1880).
He was succeeded as Ban by Count Ladislas Pejacevic, a
Croatian nobleman of high character but of less pronounced
national sjonpathies than his predecessor. His term of office
ushered in a period of Magyar aggression, in which the Com-
promise of 1868 was no longer strictly observed on the part
of the Budapest Government, and continual infringements
were made upon Croatian autonomy. The appointment of
a Magyar official, Antony David, as Director of the Financial
Department in Agram, was one of the first slight indica-
tions of this changed attitude, which contrasted so unfavour-
ably with the punctilious care with which Deak, Andrassy and
Lonyay had always fulfilled their obligations, when once entered
upon. In June, 1880, David introduced the seemingly harmless
innovation of courses of instruction in the Magyar language,
for the benefit of the financial officials in Agram. When, how-
ever, it was announced that promotion would be made depend-
ent upon proficiency in Magyar, Croat patriotic sentiment at
once took alarm ; and Dr. Mrazovid, one of the leaders of the
National Party, seceded with twenty-two other deputies and
formed the Independent National Party.
The final incorporation of the Military Frontiers (July 15,
1881), so long and so eagerly awaited, had a soothing effect
upon Croatian public opinion ; and as the foreign situation
was comparatively calm once more, Count Pejacevid might have
»" Horvat, p. 288.
^*» Letter of Racki to Novakovic, Ap. 3, 1878, cit. Zagorsky, p. 150.
S.S.Q. 97 H
CROATIA UNDER THE DUAL SYSTEM
long continued undisturbed in office, but for an apparently
trifling incident. In the summer of 1883 David removed the
scutcheons bearing Croat inscriptions, which had hitherto
hung above the entrance of the Finance Office and certain
other public buildings in Agram, and replaced them by others
bearing inscriptions in both Croat and Magyar. This innova-
tion — insignificant as it may seem to those who are not aware
of the enormous importance attached throughout Austria-
Hungary to such external symbols as flags, colours and in-
scriptions 1^° — was bitterly resented by Croatian opinion as a
clear infringement of the Compromise. ^^^ As paragraph 57
expressly makes Croatian the official language throughout
Croatia, even for organs of the Joint Government, it is cer-
tainly difficult to realize upon what grounds the Magyar
authorities could justify their action.^^^ Qn August 15 riots
broke out in Agram, and the obnoxious scutcheons were re-
moved by the crowd. The excitement spread into the pro-
vinces, and troops had to be called out to quell the disorders.
The Ban, whom David had not consulted, and Bedekovic, who
was now Croatian Minister, laid the case before the Hungarian
Cabinet ; but when it decided that in order to vindicate the
reputation of the Joint Government, the bilingual scutcheons
must be restored wherever they had been forcibly removed,
Pejacevic at once resigned (August 24) and made his reasons
public. This spirited attitude more than atoned, in the eyes
of his countrymen, for his previous inactivity, and earned him
the name of the " Cavalier-Ban."
Coloman Tisza adhered rigidly to the view that the legal
question could not even be considered until reparation had
been made for the action of the mob. While doubtless unpre-
pared for so violent an outbreak in Croatia, he was not averse
to giving that country a taste of the habitual brutality with
which he treated the Slovaks and Roumanians. On September
1^° It is sufi&cient to refer to such incidents as the Cilli gymnasium,
which wrecked an Austrian Government (1886), the part played by
the night watchman of Leitmeritz and the postbags of the Nordbahn
in the rivalry of Czech and German. In Hungary the authorities
have time after time resorted to bloodshed, rather than allow the
Roumanian peasantry to wear its national colours.
"1 See Appendix V.
162 jhe Magyar argument was that the Compromise nowhere lays
down what language the inscriptions are to be in, and that therefore
it was both legal and reasonable that both languages should be employed
on buildings which served both countries.
98
THE CONSTITUTION SUSPENDED
4, 1883, the Croatian constitution was suspended by the nomin-
ation of the commanding officer in Agram, Baron Hermann
Ramberg, as Royal Commissioner for Croatia. Ramberg's
firm yet tactful behaviour soon restored order. Only three
days after his appointment the bilingual scutcheons were back
in their places, but on October 16 they were replaced by the
so-called " dumb shields," which bore the arms of Hungary
and Croatia, but no inscription of any kind.
But though actual disturbances were soon at an end, the
appointment of a Royal Commissioner marks an eventful and
fatal turning-point in Croatian history. It dealt the death-
blow to the Unionist idea in Croatia. In the succeeding period
Unionism still could boast prominent adherents and a major-
ity in Parliament, since for opportunists, placehunters and
arrivistes there were more openings than ever before and since
no device was left untried to thin the ranks of Opposition.
But the soul of the nation had finally rejected the Hungarian
partnership and longed passionately for freedom from its
irksome bonds. Save for a few brilliant individual exceptions
the party of convinced adherents of the union ceased to exist.
The country was divided between Magyarophobes and
Mamelukes, and for twenty-five years the Mamelukes were to
prevail, for reasons which will soon become clear to the reader.
The chief gainer from the Ramberg interregnum was the
Party of Right (Stranka Prava), as the adherents of Antony
Starcevic were called. Its uncompromising negation of the
Compromise with Hungary seemed to be justified, if the funda-
mental law which regulated the relations of the two countries
could be lightly set aside by a stroke of the pen from the
Hungarian Premier. ^^^ With the restoration of order Ram-
berg's mission was at an end, and Tisza looked about for a
suitable candidate for the office of Ban. Overtures were
made to Baron Filipovic, who as a Croat general was popular
and respected, yet free from all party ties ; but he had no inclin-
ation to leave his retirement, merely to play the part of a Mag-
yar exponent in his native land. On December i, 1883, the
appointment was announced of Count Charles Khuen-Heder-
vary, a cousin of Tisza himself. The new Ban had been born
in Slavonia, where his chief estate was situated, and had spent
two 3'ears at the former Academy of Law in Agram, before he
went on to Vienna and Budapest Universities. For the three
163 Polio, Graf Khuen-Hedervdry und seme Zeil, p. 7.
99
CROATIA UNDER THE DUAL SYSTEM
years previous to his appointment as Ban, he had occupied the
post of High Sheriff of the county of Gyor. This was practi-
cally all that the Croatian public knew of the man who was
destined to rule their country with a rod of iron for the next
twenty years, and for whom history will reserve a special niche
as the most successful satrap of any modern European pro-
vince. The young Ban — he was only thirty years of age —
was looked upon by many as a political cipher, and it was
prophesied that his term of office would be brief.
Count Khuen-Hedervary's remarkable career is only too open
to criticism ; but no one can deny his great political capacity.
From the very first he showed a calm energy, coupled with an
iron nerve and complete self-restraint such as are strikingly
alien to the Croat temperament, and for that very reason made
a deep impression upon the Croat mind. Above all, he pos-
sessed a remarkable gift of judging character and estimating
motives, and as he always knew the weakest spot in his
enemy's armour, and spared no pains to collect his informa-
tion, he gradually succeeded in gathering round him a really
able band of fellow-workers in the task of holding down Croatia.
Unlike so many men in such a position, he was not satisfied
with mere opportunism or ambition in his subordinates ; sub-
servience he never exacted from them, but ability and energy he
regarded as indispensable. While this explains his success,
it also helps to explain the deep hatred which his name still
inspires in Croatia. For when the Croats describe Count
Khuen as the corrupter of a whole generation of their coun-
trymen, they are not guilty of mere exaggeration. The essence
of his system consisted in closing every public career to men
of independent views or strong national feeling and in forcing
all who had a career to make or a salary to earn — and in so poor
a country as Croatia the exceptions to this class are unhappily
rare — to forswear their political convictions and to submit
blindly to marching orders from above.
Count Khuen enjoyed one signal advantage which had been
denied to all his predecessors since the Compromise. He stood
entirely outside and above the parties, no personal ties bound
him to this politician or to that. He could pose as impartial,
and, it is only fair to add, he often justified the pose, in matter
where his predecessors could hardly have failed to betray their
party leanings. His very detachment made it the more difficult
for his opponents to understand him or to calculate his prob-
able course of action ; while he took a born diplomat's delight
100
COUNT KHUEN-HEDERVARY
m watching and forestalling their designs, from behind the
mask of an eternal smile.
Secured in his post by Court favour and the confidence of
Colomon Tisza, Count Khuen set himself the thorny task of
reducing Croatia to order and of creating a pliant and docile
majority, pledged to the Compromise with Hungary and inno-
cuous from the standpoint of " the Magyar State idea " (a
Magyar allam eszme) which now formed the main objective
of Hungarian statesmen. When he took office, the old National
Party was already in the last stage of decay, and its collapse
was regarded on all sides as inevitable. Khuen, however,
galvanized the corpse, and gave it a new lease of life ; the name
and the external trappings of the party survived, but its charac-
ter underwent a complete transformation, and it richly de-
served the epithet of " Mameluke " bestowed upon it by stern
critics of its opportunist views.
At this period the moderate Opposition, represented by the
Independent National Party (which had seceded from the
majority in 1881) was overshadowed by those uncompromis-
ing and turbulent elements which followed Antony Starcevic.
This remarkable man, whose retiring idealistic nature con-
trasted strongly with the violence of his political opinions,
based the programme of the Party of Right (or the Starcevic
Party, as it came to be called later) upon historic right and
racial fanaticism. His sterling honesty of character stands
above all question (though the evil Croat propensity of politi-
cal slander has not left even his name untouched) ; and it was
above all this quality which earned him such an unbounded
influence over the younger generation of Croats. Unhappily,
he carried his horror of compromise to extravagant lengths,
and indeed in his rigid adherence to principles often sacrificed
the reality which underlay them. His fanaticism was unrea-
soning to an almost unhealthy degree, and degenerated under
his successors into a mere policy of blind hatred. His incapa-
city to learn from events and his unmeasured use of personalities
rob him of the right to the title of statesman ; but his influence
in rousing the youth of his country from the swamp of lethargy
and corruption into which Magyar rule had plunged it, cannot
easily be exaggerated.
The appointment of Count Khuen-Hedervary was of course
received most unfavourably by the Party of Right, which
vented its ill-humour in stormy outbursts in the Sabor. But
from the very first Count Khuen showed a firm hand, and as
lOI
CROATIA UNDER THE DUAL SYSTEM
early as December 19, 1883, several Opposition deputies were
excluded from the sittings. Feeling ran higher than ever
before in Croatian public life ; the fiercest polemics between
the parties were the order of the day. The Opposition in-
dulged in unmeasured abuse, and even violence : the majority
retaliated by infringements of the rules of the House. Finally,
a few days before the close of the Session, both Opposition
parties, by way of protest against such illegal proceedings,
decided to absent themselves altogether from the House.
The general election of August, 1884, was contested with the
utmost violence, which sometimes degenerated into blood-
shed. Gross official pressure on the one hand was met by
terrorism and wild invective on the other. In spite of every
obstacle which the Government could throw in their way,
forty-one members of the Opposition succeeded in running the
electoral gauntlet ; of these thirteen belonged to the Inde-
pendent National Party (including Dr. Joseph Frank ^^*),
three were non-party, while the remaining twenty-five were
followers of Starcevic.
Khuen and his confidants, having met with a very partial
success at the polls, resorted to even more drastic measures in
the new Sabor (October, 1884). The debate on the Address to
the Throne gave rise to the usual stormy scenes, the Party of
Right moving a rival Address, in which the validity of the
Compromise was denied, as created by " an illegal assembly."
Hereupon the new President, Mirko Hrvat, one of the most
energetic and masterful members of the Government Party,
threw aspersions upon the Starcevic Address, as calculated
to arouse doubts regarding " the innate loyalty of this Diet and
the nation which it represents, towards the sacred person of
His Majesty," and then solemnly protested against " the bare
idea " that the Diet could ever accept such an address. This
grave accusation was greeted with fierce cries of " Revoke,"
but on three successive days the President closed the sitting
without allowing the members of the Party of Right any
opportunity of defending themselves. On October 24, Hrvat
opened the proceedings by a fresh statement, in which he
proposed the exclusion of fifteen members of that party from
eight sittings of the Sabor, and promptly followed this up by
declaring them excluded from that day's sitting. He frankly
admitted that he was acting contrary to the Standing Orders
^'* See below, p. no.
102
OBSTRUCTION AND ITS REPRESSION
of the House, but justified his action on the plea that their
framers could not know that deputies would ever find their
way into the Diet who would make its work impossible by
noise and even howling, and by " insults such as cannot be
tolerated even in the lowest grades of society." ^^^ On the
motion of the deputy Loncaric a revision of the Standing Orders
was proposed and accepted by the majority without alteration.
When the fifteen excluded members sought to gain admission,
their way was blocked by gendarmes, at the orders of the
Government.
This drastic reform invested the President of the Chamber
with well-nigh absolute discretionary powers over the deputies.
It introduced a sliding scale of punishments for refractory
members, beginning with a call to order and a reproof, and then
proceeding to exclusion from eight to thirty sittings, and finally
from thirty to sixty sittings, with loss of salary during the
period of exclusion. Above all, a vigorous form of closure
was adopted ; after the debate on any subject had lasted
three days, any member of the Sabor who could obtain the
support of ten others, was entitled to move the closing of the
discussion, and " on such a motion the Sabor decides imme-
diately without any debate, merely by standing up." ^^^
Any Croatian verdict upon this extraordinary incident must
inevitably be determined by the party bias of the individual.
There can be i o question that Hrvat's action was arbitrary to
the last degree and involved a gross infringement of the Croa-
tian Constitution. But unless we deny the principle that
" the King's Government must be carried on," we shall be
constrained to find extenuating circumstances for his action.
Under the circumstances of the day, the Opposition had shown
itself to be a destructive, not a constructive, force ; and its
triumph must inevitably have led to a fresh suspension of
the Constitution. Nothing shows more clearly Antony Star-
cevic's complete lack of statesmanship than his adoption of
tactics which directly challenged an adversary whom he knew
to be greatly superior in strength, to resort to some such
drastic measures. No statesman worthy of the name sets
himself deliberately to ride for a fall.
With the revision of the Standing Orders, the power of the
Opposition was broken ; and the Ban was free to extend that
notorious system of repressive Government which will always
165 Polic, op. cit. p. 39. "* Horvat, op. cit. p. 291.
103
CROATIA UNDER THE DUAL SYSTEM
be known to history as " the Khuen Regime." One formid-
able step in the taming of Croatia was the law which suspended
for a period of three years trial by jury for all press actions.
Public opinion had favoured the defendants in political cases,
and with but few exceptions the juries had acquitted. i" Now
however it was at once possible to muzzle the Opposition press
by confiscation and by legal proceedings and to ensure that
these took place before courts which were amenable to
Government influences.
Meanwhile the Government, by its administrative " re-
forms," strengthened its hold upon the officials throughout
the country and made them more than ever dependent upon
their superiors. The High Sheriffs of the counties were invested
with fresh powers, in certain respects even over the local town
councils. The Ban, it is true, expressly denied the exercise of
pressure upon the officials ; but perfunctory denials could
deceive nobody, in view of his own significant phrase, " In
a country where two parties are struggling, one for the legal
status quo, the other against it, the attitude of the officials
is clearly marked out." ^^^
The Session of 1885 was still marked by scenes of the utmost
violence ; but the Party of Right was fatally handicapped
by the new Rules of Procedure, and, it must be added, was
entirely lacking in the tactical skill and adaptability by which
a Parnell might perhaps have continued to defy the Govern-
ment. The elections of 1887, conducted on the most approved
Tammany principles, still further strengthened the " National "
party at the expense of the Independents and the Starce-
vicians ; and Khuen now felt himself strong enough to
adapt the franchise to his own requirements. Croatia
presents an example, probably unique in modern Europe,
of perpetual juggling with the franchise, and Count Khuen
may well have felt that one more addition to the long list of
electoral " reforms " might be ventured upon with impunity. 1^9
1" Folic, op. cit. p. 62. ^5* Ibid. p. 42.
"» The Diet of 1848 was elected on the basis of an electoral law,
hurriedly drawn up under Jellacic by representative Croats summoned
for the purpose, but never submitted to full discussion by the Sabor.
The Diets of 1861 and 1866 (see Sulek, Nase Pravice, pp. 242-46) were
also elected on this rough draft, the opportunity not arising for a
thorough measure of reform. In 1866 a new franchise bill was laid
before the Sabor {see Sulek, op. cit. pp. cxxvii-cxxxv) but not passed,
and the elections of 1867 were conducted upon a provisional franchise,
arbitrarily promulgated {see Sulek, pp. cxxxvi-cxliii). In 1870 at
104.
A REACTIONARY FRANCHISE
The new electoral law did, it is true, reduce the number of
virilists and bring the constituencies of the former Military-
Frontiers into line with those of the rest of the country.!^" But
otherwise all the evil features of the old franchise were retained
or accentuated. Public voting and a tax qualification which
was extremely high for so poor a country, made " freedom of
election " in Croatia a mere farce. Less than 2 per cent, of
the population possessed the vote, and from 50 to 60 per cent,
of the electors were officials.^^^ The Croatian vote was now
for the first time extended to the joint officials, even if they
possessed a vote in their own homes in Hungary. This pro-
vision, which would have been a mere matter of justice under
a wide and liberal franchise, was, under the special circum-
stances of the case — and was of course intended to be — a con-
venient weapon in the hands of the Government. The official
who voted for an Opposition candidate, or even absented him-
self from the poll, risked, and often lost, his position ; and thus
for years the officials were the pliant tools of the Government,
turning the scale in a large number of constituencies. A
specially valuable asset were the State railway employees —
many of them Magyars — who could always be relied upon to
vote as their superiors ordered ; and it is this fact which
explains the fierce opposition of the Party of Right to the
enfranchisement of the joint officials. ^^^
This reactionary franchise formed the basis for a complete
system of electoral corruption and intimidation. No trick
or quibble was neglected to cheat the Opposition of its votes
or to deter its supporters from voting. The registers were
consistently " doctored," names were omitted or falsely
length a new franchise law was passed by the Sabor. It was specially-
framed to give the Government organs great power, yet Rauch's Unionist
party was twice beaten on its own franchise. In 1874 the National
Party, now in power, introduced and passed a much more liberal mea-
sure ; but in 1881, after the split in the governing party, a fresh
" reform " was carried, again extending the influence of the authorities.
This remained in force until Khuen's "reform" in 1887.
1'° Till then, the Frontiers had voted on a special franchise promul-
gated in 1883.
^^^ In igo6 there were 45,381 electors out of a population of 2,416,304,
i.e., 1-8 per cent.' (Horvat, p. 292).
"2 They further based their opposition upon the view that Hungarian
and Croatian citizenship are entirely distinct and not reciprocal. Yet
however logical such a distinction might seem to be, it is quite impos-
sible to interpret the Compromise in this sense, in view of its clear
recognition of Croatia's identity as a distinct state.
105
CROATIA UNDER THE DUAL SYSTEM
inscribed, while strangers were allowed to vote in the name of
dead voters or to impersonate the absent. Bribery was prac-
tised openly, and the authorities canvassed actively for the
Government candidates. The right of assembly and freedom of
speech were suspended without scruple, and even the im-
munity of Opposition deputies was not respected. In some
constituencies the electorate numbered less than a hundred,^^^
and here the task of the Government was comparatively simple.
Elsewhere, where the Opposition was more formidable, the
electors were sometimes in the last resort kept back for-
cibly from the poll by detachments of gendarmerie or by
military cordons. More than one case could be quoted where
electors have only reached the poll by lying flat beneath a
load of hay on a peasant's cart ; and other equally strange
devices have sometimes been required before a Croat citizen
could exercise his political rights. Nor was bloodshed un-
known at the Croatian elections of the Khuen era. Most
notorious of all, but by no means unique, was the fusillade by
which eight peasants were killed and sixty others wounded ;
numerous sentences of fines or imprisonment being imposed
upon those who had dared to survive the massacre. ^^^
In 1888 the Opposition was still further weakened by its
own intolerant attitude. On the occasion of Bishop Stross-
mayer's jubilee, when the entire nation should have united
in its homage to one of its greatest sons, a discordant note
was struck by Hrvatska, the organ of the Starcevic Party.
So violent was its abuse of the Apostle of Southern Slav unity
that three members of the Party of Right, including Erasmus
Barcic — to-day the " Father " of the Croatian House —
seceded and formed a small group of their own, until seven
years later they were reinforced by a further secession. The
fanaticism of the Starcevic party at this period knew no
bounds ; charges of atheism and infidelity were showered
upon their opponents, and the attempt was even made to
discredit such priests as chose to adhere to the National Party.
Nothing could better illustrate the intellectual poverty of the
party than these supremely foolish tactics. The inevitable
result was to strengthen the alliance of the Serbs with the
Government and to swell the ranks of its Croat supporters
who owed their seats to artifice and trickery of the grossest
163 jn PeruSic, Srb, Gracac, Karlobag and Korenica the electors
were 61, 74, 74, 75 and 81 respectively, see Horvat, p. 292.
i«4 Loiseau, Le Balkan Slave, p. 177.
106
FUTILE OPPOSITION
kind, by a solid phalanx of twenty to twenty-five devoted
Serb adherents, elected in accordance with the real wishes of
the Orthodox population. So long as the only serious party
of opposition denied the very existence of the Serbs in the
Triune Kingdom, the latter had no choice but to accept Count
Khuen's friendly overtures. It was not until the younger
generation of Croats assumed a more enlightened and reason-
able frame of mind towards their Serb kinsmen, and gave ex-
pression to the growing idea of fellowship in a new political
organization, that the Serbs ventured to leave the apron-
strings of the Government. Divide et impera was the secret
motto of the Khuen regime. He realized that the two main
principles of Antony Starcevic were mutually destructive,
that the independence of Croatia and the formation of a Greater
Croatia were only practicable with the aid of the Serbs. So
long, then, as he could retain the Serbs upon his side, the nation
must remain weak and divided ; no effort was spared to secure
the success of this policy, and so long as he remained Ban that
success was strikingly complete.
The powerlessness of the Opposition became more than ever
apparent in 1889, when the financial provisions of the Compro-
mise were revised in a sense distinctly unfavourable to Croatia,
the quota (or contribution to the joint affairs of the Monarchy)
being raised from 6-4 to 7-9 per cent., and the proportion of
revenue to be retained for autonomous expenditure being
reduced from 45 to 44 per cent. (1889, XL, §§ i and 6a).
The elections of 1892 reduced the Party of Right to eight
members. Its unfruitful policy of negation had kept the
country in a state of feverish exhaustion, at a time when strong
purgatives were needed. The urgent need of new tactics had
at length become apparent even to its most uncompromising
adherents ; and in the autumn of 1892 the Independent
National Party and the Party of Right combined to form the
so-called " United Opposition " (Sjedinjena Opozicija). But
the union was more apparent than real. The broad states-
manship of Strossmayer might have supplied what was lack-
ing in the narrower idealism of Starcevic, but it could not
hope to assimilate the blind fanaticism of the latter's followers.
The only practical fruit of this temporary union was the re-
vision of the Starcevician programme in 1894. The party
abandoned its fiercely anti-Austrian attitude, recognized the
existence of Joint Affairs between Hungary and Croatia on the
one hand and Austria on the other, but still denied the legality
107
CROATIA UNDER THE DUAL SYSTEM
of the Hungaro-Croatian Compromise and demanded its
revision on such a basis as would secure absolute parity be-
tween the two countries. The union of Croatia, Slavonia, Dal-
matia, Bosnia, Herzegovina, Fiume, Istria in a single state
— known under the modern name of Trialism — became more
than ever the aspiration of all true Croat and Serb patriots
within the Habsburg Monarchy.
The year 1895 witnessed a recrudescence of the violent
scenes of twelve years before. During the official visit of the
Emperor-King to the Croatian capital, the anger of the mob
and of the students was excited by the prominence of the Hun-
garian tricolour and the Serb national colours in the street
decorations. An attempt was first made to tear down the
latter from the Orthodox Church, and though this was fortu-
nately frustrated by the pohce, the demonstrations were
renewed the following day (October 15, 1895) before the great
equestrian statue of Jellacic, which occupies the centre of the
principal square of Agram and seems to menace the Magyars
with his drawn sword pointing in the direction of Budapest.
Here in the presence of a huge crowd, four students soaked a
Hungarian flag in alcohol and burnt it to the strains of the
old Illyrian hymn, "Yet is not Croatia fallen, while we are yet
alive. "1^^ A similar outburst of feeling marked the following
year, when the students of Belgrad burnt the Hungarian flag,
in protest against the inclusion of the Servian arms among the
symbols of the partes subjectae of the Crown of St. Stephen, ^^^
which decorated the Millenary Exhibition in Budapest. The
gradual dawn of friendlier feelings between Croat and Serb was
foreshadowed by the reception accorded to the Croat Sokols 1^'
in Belgrad, by the mutual compliments paid by the two races
at the translation of the remains of Vuk Karadzic, the great
Serb scholar, and by the cordial declarations of Vaso Gjurg-
jevic, who had succeeded Hr vat as President of the Sabor and
was now leader of the Serb faction. " The Serbs and the
Croats in the Croatian Kingdom have the same future, the
same destiny, the same political aim."
In his declining years Antony Starcevic showed a tendency
to modify his non possumus attitude in the Serb question ;
but death removed him in 1896, at the very period when the
US "Jos Hrvatska ne propala, Dok mi ^ivimo."
1** See Loiseau, op. cit. pp. 172-7.
'*' The famous gymnastic societies, originally developed in Bohemia,
but since copied by all Slav nations.
108
ANTONY STARCEVIC
first signs of returning sanity showed themselves in the rela-
tions of the " hostile brethren." No one save Bishop Stross-
mayer has exercised so deep an influence upon Croatia during
the last half century : no one combined such noble idealism
and such simplicity and firmness of character with such lack of
political balance and scorn for the practical possibilities of
public life. His exaggerated praise of past centuries was
redeemed by the earnest ambition to create a new moral basis
for a society which he regarded as corrupt and decaying ; but
it cannot be said that his choice of tactics was calculated to
arrest the decay which he lamented. His strange contempt
for the whole existing national culture and literature might
have been admissible in one who was steeped in the great
literatures of the West ; but of this there was no sign, and his
programme, despite his own keen critical faculty, was sadly
lacking in intellectual background. Hence his followers, who
did not possess his earnestness and reasoning powers, inevitably
tended to lose sight of cultural aims, in the vain pursuit of
political mirages. Starcevic's impossible attitude on the Serb
question was largely responsible for the success of the Khuen
regime and the complete subordination of Croatia to the
Magyars ; and it cannot be denied that by his policy of un-
restrained fanaticism he showed himself lacking in the most
essential qualities of statesmanship and played into the hands
of his enemies. Yet it is impossible to withhold our admira-
tion from his passionate consistency and rigid patriotic creed
and still more impossible to doubt his sincerity and honour.
So long as the name of Cato commands the respect of the
modern world, so long must Croatia honour the memory of
Antony Starcevic.
The death of Starcevic deprived the Party of Right of its
founder and its most outstanding figure ; and the selection of
a successor was influenced by those intrigues and personahties
which are unhappily so characteristic of Croatian public life.
Within the next year the party split into two sections. One
of these united with the old Independent National Party and
other scattered adherents of Strossmayer, and formed the
" Croatian Party of Right " ; while the other, under the title
of the " Party of Pure Right," upheld the theories of Star-
cevic in their most uncompromising form. While the former
gradually formed the nucleus of a new political group, destined
to overthrow the Mamelukes of the governing party, the latter
owed whatever influence it possessed to the great ability and
109
CROATIA UNDER THE DUAL SYSTEM
tactical skill of its leader, Dr. Joseph Frank, who is in many
respects the most interesting figure in Croatian public life
during the last fifteen years.
Dr. Frank's Jewish birth did not deter him from becoming the
mouthpiece of Croat nationalism in its extremest form, and
fanning the religious and racial passions of the mob. In this
direction his influence has been almost wholly evil and has been
mainly responsible for the violence and acrimony of political and
press controversy in recent years. But on the other hand, he
rendered great services to Croatia by his thorough study of the
economic and financial situation and by the renewed attention
which he called to that hitherto neglected subject. His chief
claim to consideration, however, rests upon his statesmanlike
views of foreign policy and of the place which the Croat race
and its aspirations should fill in the international situation.
He was the first politician since the collapse of Haulik's party
in the sixties, and the withdrawal of Strossmayer from active
politics, to advocate an alliance between Austria and Croatia,
to realize that while on the one hand Croatian national claims
must remain a mere dream without the support of Vienna
and the dynasty, so on the other hand the economic needs of
the two countries and the requirements of a true Imperial
policy should lead the dynasty to favour Croat claims. It
is a further merit of Dr. Frank, that he has been the most con-
sistent advocate of the union of Bosnia with Croatia. Un-
happily his policy has been obscured by a blatant clericalism,
which alienated the more thoughtful elements of public opinion,
and had as demoralizing an influence upon the peasantry as
the equally blatant anti-clericalism which it evoked as protest.
The elections of 1897, despite gross corruption on the part
of the authorities, were marked by a fresh rally of the Oppo-
sition, which secured twenty-five out of eighty-eight seats.
But Khuen promptly took steps to unseat seven of the leading
Opposition deputies, including Professor Vrbanic, the well-
known constitutional writer, and Dr. Pasaric, who had been
returned unopposed. Needless to say the usual pliant instru-
ments and legal quibbles were found to execute and to palliate
this high-handed action. In the terse phrase of a modern his-
torian, " it may be said that to Khuen as a rule the constitu-
tion was mere padding ; he governed absolutely." ^^^ It is
only fair to add that agrarian disturbances, which broke out
in Slavonia during the autumn of 1897, and which culminated
**8 R. Horvat, op. cit. p. 293.
no
THE NEW GENERATION
in an assault upon Count Khuen's own country house at Nustar,
provided the Government with a pretext for repressive
measures.
The Opposition was still too weak to resist Count Khuen
successfully : and he, on his side, by skilfully fanning the
flame of discord among the rival factions, soon reduced them
once more to impotence. The next five years were a period
of stagnation, in which the nation groaned in vain under the
restraint of the Khuen regime.
Never before had the agitation against the Serbs been con-
ducted with such violence as by Dr. Frank and his followers
in the closing years of the century ; while the favour shown to
them by the Government not unnaturally served to enhance
anti-Serb feeling among wide circles of the Croat population.
In igo2 serious anti-Serb riots took place in Agram, under the
auspices of the Starcevic Party. Spiteful rumours accused
Dr. Frank a^nd Count Khuen of secretly working together to
maintain unabated that waning discord of Croat and Serb
to which the Government owed its majority and the Frank
party the most effective point in its programme.
These events, however, gave the first impetus to a change in
the policy of the Serbs in Croatia and to the formation of a
new political organization, the Independent Serb Party, which
has since then played so important a part in the history of the
country. " The younger generation of Serbs came to the
conclusion that the Khuen regime merely favourized the Serbs
in order to play them off against the patriotic Croat parties
which were engaged in a struggle for the political rights and
liberties of the country. They came to realize that the Magyar
onslaughts upon Croatia's language and autonomous position
must prove equally injurious to Serb and to Croat : that the
Serbs have an equal interest in upholding the rights guaran-
teed by the Compromise, and should therefore unite in defence
of their common fatherland. (In a Magyarized Croatia Serbs
and Croats alike would be Magyarized, as is already happen-
ing to the Serbs in Hungary. In a Croatia which was flour-
ishing politically and economically, the Serbs would share all
the benefits." ) 169 \
The stagnation to which Khuen's iron rule had reduced
Croatia, had rendered the great majority of the older genera-
tion impervious to all ideas of progress : and hence it was from
abroad that the new movement was forced to draw its inspira-
169 Kroatien und dessen Beziehungen zu Bosnien, p. 82.
Ill
CROATIA UNDER THE DUAL SYSTEM
tion. Its first beginnings may be traced to the group of Croat
students who had been impUcated in the " flag-riots " of 1895
and had found it necessary to complete their education at the
University of Prague. Here most of them became the dis-
ciples of Professor Thomas Masaryk, who had already become
an ethical force throughout the whole Slav world and whose
influence upon the thought and outlook of so many leaders of
public life in Slav countries — alike in Bohemia, Russia and
Hungary, in Servia, Croatia and Bulgaria — ^has since then
grown steadily from year to year, until to-day it may safely
be described as without any parallel.
Two publications, Novo Doha (The New Age) in Prague and
Narodna Misao (National Thought) in Agram, preached to the
younger generation the idea of Croato-Serb brotherhood and
unity ; and their staff brought new ideals and enthusiasms into
the cynicism and decay of Croatian public life.^'° The out-
break, when at length it came, was sudden and spontaneous.
In February, 1903, the Hungarian delegation had abruptly
rejected all the Croatian proposals for a revision of the financial
Compromise, and on March 11 a public meeting of protest against
the Magyar attitude was held in Agram by the Opposition
parties. Great enthusiasm prevailed, and similar meetings
were organized in the chief provincial towns, while the press,
led by Obzor, the chief Croatian newspaper, opened a vigorous
campaign against Count Khuen and in favour of Croatia's
financial autonomy.
Almost daily confiscations were the result, and Obzor fre-
quently appeared with ominous blank spaces in its leading
articles and sometimes with whole columns of erasures. A
Magyar inscription over the new railway station of Agram
led to fresh demonstrations, and on March 27 they were re-
newed with greater violence than before. A general feeling
of unrest gained possession of the country. Rioting in Agram
was followed by bloodshed in Zapresica, where a peasant died
of his injuries. The troops were called out, sharp measures
were adopted. Meetings were prohibited wholesale, and a
large number of arrests were made, including the chief mem-
bers of the Obzor' s staff. The press was gagged more merci-
lessly than ever before ; confiscation was an almost daily
occurrence,^''^ and whole columns of print — articles and news
^'° See Marjanovic, Hrvatski Pokret, pp. 15 seq.
"1 Obzor, in its Jubilee number (December, 19 10) states that it alone
paid about 60,000 crowns in fines, etc., during the Khuen regime.
112
THE MOVEMENT IN DALMATIA
alike — fell victims to the censor's fury, until it was almost
possible to speak of " white editions." ^"^^
The disturbances of the spring of 1903, though insignificant
in themselves, showed that Croatia was at length shaking off
the inertia in which it had been sunk for the past twenty years,
and roused men to the idea that Count Khuen's position, which
they had come to regard as impregnable, might after all be
shaken. The movement was greeted with equal surprise and
enthusiasm throughout the Southern Slav provinces, and no-
where was the enthusiasm so marked as in Dalmatia. Here
the Croat idea had during the past generation shown a steady
growth at the expense of the Italian. ^^^ One by one the muni-
cipalities of the Dalmatian coast towns — Spalato, Sebenico,
Trau, Lesina, Ragusa, Cattaro — fell into Croat or Serb hands,
until Zara alone remained Italian. The Croat language gradu-
ally rose from a subordinate to a predominant position in the
schools and in the law courts, while the same tendency was
noticeable in the provincial press. Enjoying less freedom
than the other provinces of Austria, Dalmatia might complain
that its economic needs were ignored or neglected by the cen-
tral Government, and that the methods of bureaucracy and
espionage which have been allowed to survive along Austria's
southern frontier were not merely superfluous but clumsy and
insulting. But despite all its pedantry and suspiciousness,
the Austrian administration in Dalmatia has never been accused
of corruption ; and if it cannot compare with that of Tirol or
Bohemia, it has never led even its bitterest critic to regard
with envy the administrative conditions of Croatia, of Servia
or of Montenegro. In short, neglected as it was, it enjoyed a
privileged position among Southern Slav countries, a fact which
is in itself the most glaring proof of the intolerable position
of the Croato-Serb race.
The movement in Croatia found a lively echo in Dalmatia,
but the strict censorship imposed by Khuen made it difficult
"2 In Hungary and Croatia, a newspaper can only be confiscated
after publication, but as the first copy must be submitted to the pohce,
confiscation can follow very speedily. A raid is then made upon the
postbags and the cafes. The newspaper then reprints, leaving the
incriminated passages blank, save for the word zaplijen (" confiscated").
During the three weeks which I spent in Agram at the time of the High
Treason Trial, a policeman used sometimes to appear at the door of
the Cafe Corso, and my friends would greet him with the question,
" What paper is it to-day ? "
"' See p. 10.
S.S.Q. 113 I
CROATIA UNDER THE DUAL SYSTEM
for accurate news to find its way across the frontier. The
wholesale arrests in Agram gave rise to the wild rumour that
certain Croat leaders were to be hanged. One of those strange
frenzies which at rare intervals seize upon a whole nation, ran
through the Croat population of Istria and Dalmatia. Every-
where public meetings of protest and sympathy were held,
wild abuse was levelled at Count Khuen and his Government,
and public collections were made in favour of their victims,
the Italians generously contributing side by side with their
Croat rivals. Tales of massacre circulated among the pea-
santry, and until their falsity became apparent many houses
were draped in black. The " black days " still form a vivid
memory of the Dalmatian people. Acting under the stress of
national excitement, over thirty Croat deputies of the Diets of
Dalmatia and Istria conceived the idea of seeking an audience
with the Emperor and appealing to him for mercy for the
victims of the Khuen regime. But, unfortunately, their
intention had become known in Budapest, and the Hungarian
Government exerted all its influence to prevent the audience.
Every Minister — Austrian and Austro-Hungarian alike —
turned a deaf ear to their appeals ; and the thirty deputies
were obliged to leave the Hungarian capital — Francis Joseph
was at the time residing in the palace of Buda — without
being admitted to the presence of their sovereign. Whatever
may have been the reasons of state which dictated this rebuff
— whether Francis Joseph yielded reluctantly to the insistence
of his constitutional advisers, or freely followed his own inclina-
tions — it is a notorious fact that this was a turning point in
the relations of the Habsburg dynasty and the Southern Slavs.
The Dalmatian Croat is proud and sensitive, and still regards the
Emperor with very much the same feelings as he regarded in
former centuries some powerful voivode in the Turkish wars —
as his natural champion and vindicator against all injustice.
But while the patriarchal conception of kingship is part and
parcel of the people's nature, the monarchical tradition can
hardly be said to exist at all, and thus when the nation's repre-
sentatives were refused access to the steps of the throne, the
universal sentiment was one of dismay, resentment and dis-
appointment. The southern mind, at once naive and pas-
sionate, interpreted it as a clear proof of hostility on the part
of the dynasty towards the Southern Slavs. ^'^^ A great revul-
"* The Archduke MaximiUan (afterwards Emperor of Mexico) and
Crown Prince Rudolf had enjoyed enormous popularity among the
114
THE REJECTED AUDIENCE
sion of feeling took place. In the Diet of Dalmatia violent
speeches were delivered against " Vienna " and Austria.
Khuen's henchmen and the instruments of Magyarization in
Croatia were openly denounced as the agents of Vienna. The
Dalmatian politicians became the moving spirits in the poli-
tical revival. Encouraged by the S3rmpathy which the events
in Croatia aroused in the Italian press, they aimed at kindhng
the interest of Europe in their cause. The natural channels
of redress being resolutely closed to them, they not unnaturally
sought to turn the international situation to their own
advantage. Brought up in Italian thought and under the
spell of the Risorgimento, they modelled their dreams of
Southern Slav unity upon the piecemeal advance of Piedmont.
Italy, Hungary and the new Jougo-Slavia were to form the
three bulwarks of a rejuvenated Southern Europe against the
onslaughts of Teuton and Muscovite alike. The steady
growth of a powerful ultra-national Opposition in the Hun-
garian Parliament and the internal crises which had convulsed
Austria for some years past, encouraged them in the belief that
a new situation was at hand, when Magyar and Croat might
reconcile their differences and unite in defence of a common
independence.
Calm reflection should have told the incensed Croats that
in refusing an audience, the monarch was merely acting on the
advice of his constitutional advisers. It is on the statesmen
who gave His Majesty such advice, that the responsibility for
subsequent events must rest. They were presumably aware
of the intention of the Dalmatian leaders, not to mince their
phrases, but to lay the whole unpalatable truth before their
sovereign ; and they were determined at aU costs to prevent
him from hearing the Croat point of view in so outspoken and
convincing a form. The blame rests not with the sovereign,
but with the political system which compels him to base his
estimate of one race upon the information supplied by its
bitterest enemy.
The fall of the Szell Cabinet in June, 1903, supplied Count
Khuen Hedervary with a convenient means of retreat from
a position of which he had grown tired. On June 27 he was
nominated Hungarian Premier, and in the words of a modern
Croats. Long after the latter's death, the peasantry in remote hill
districts of Dalmatia refused to believe his death and maintained that
he would come again, like another Barbarossa or Boabdil.
CROATIA UNDER THE DUAL SYSTEM
Croat historian, " All Croatia took a deep breath." ^''^ But
his successor, Count Theodore Pejacevic, son of the " Cavalier
Ban," though averse to high-handed measures, was at first
hampered by illness and delegated the conduct of affairs to
the sectional chief for Home Affairs, Dr. Sumanovic, one of
Khuen's most zealous supporters. The removal of the hated
Ban calmed the excitement of the population ; but in its essen-
tials the old system of government survived, and blind sub-
servience to Budapest took the place of Khuen's consistent
attitude of " Thus far and no farther." A notable example
of this was supplied by the permission granted to the Mag-
yarizing " Julian Society " to erect its schools in Croatia,
ostensibly for the benefit of Magyar railway employees and
agricultural settlers, but in reality only too often for the
Magyarization of Croat and Serb children in places where
there were but few Magyar residents.
To Western minds it seems monstrous that any restriction
whatever should be placed upon the erection of schools, no
matter what their language of instruction may be. In Hun-
gary, on the other hand, private enterprise in education is
crippled at every turn, even if it be exercised through the
medium of a religious body ; and the restrictions imposed
upon the mother-tongue of school children are so severe that
two and a half million Slovaks possess only 247 primary schools
and not a single secondary school where Slovak is the language
of instruction. The linguistic rights of racial minorities simply
do not exist except on paper. Under such circumstances
it would seem to be a positive inversion of Magyar principles
to insist upon the maintenance of Magyar schools for a racial
unit which only forms 3-8 per cent of the population. Nor
can we be astonished that Croat public opinion should
bitterly resent the activity of the Julian Society in Croatia,
when we realize that meanwhile the few Croat schools in
Hungary are being steadily Magyarized.^'^ It is to be feared
that many years will elapse before each race is free to build
unhindered as many schools as it pleases in the other's country.
^'5 Horvat, op. cit. p. 295.
I'e In 1906-7 there were only four Croat schools among a Croat
population of 19-4 per cent, in County Zala, and nine among a Croat
population of i2"3 per cent, in Co. Sopron, i.e., counting one school
in Vas, a total of fourteen Croat schools for a Croat population of
188,552. {See Ung. Stat. Jahrb., xv, p. 322.) By the winter of 1910
there was only one Croat school left in Hungary.
116
THE END OF THE KHUEN ERA
The withdrawal of Count Khuen signified a change of per-
sons rather than a change of regime ; the old methods were
continued, though in a distinctly milder form. The new Ban
declared the Compromise with Hungary to be the basis of
his policy, and talked vaguely of further guarantees for the
Croatian language. But the best commentary on this barren
programme were the demands put forward in public meetings,
whenever they were allowed : universal suffrage, secret ballot,
freedom of elections, of association and assembly, liberty of
the press, financial autonomy, independence of judges, guaran-
tees of personal liberty. These demands illustrate better
than any book the condition of Croatia under Count Khuen
Hedervary,
Croatia was made the subject of debates in the Hungarian
Parhament. The Kossuthists found that the Khuen regime
in Croatia supplied them with convenient party capital against
the new Khuen Cabinet in Hungary, and exploited it accord-
ingly ; while some of its members were genuinely indignant
at the estrangement of Croat and Magyar for which the
" Liberal " policy was responsible. When the deputy Visontai
inveighed against the repression of press freedom in Croatia,
the Croatian Minister Dr. Tomasic, Count Khuen's ablest
lieutenant, roundly declared that " this was done in the interest
of Hungary." This was a practical illustration of Khuen's
maxim, that Croatia's policy must be made in Hungary, and
of the elder Andrassy's oft-quoted dictum that Croatia can
only be governed by alternate doses of " oats and whip." ^^^
Under Pejacevic the severity of the old regime was some-
what relaxed ; but repressive measures were not altogether
abandoned. On July 4 Father Jemersic and another priest
were sentenced to six months' imprisonment for the usual
" incitement " ; and on the 19th of the same month the trial
of twenty-four citizens of Karlovac resulted in the condemna-
tion of two persons to eight months, eleven others to six months
each, in addition to lesser sentences, for demonstrations against
Khuen and the Magyars. On August 14 Mr. Stephen
Radic, the peasant leader, and Professor Pasaric were sen-
tenced to two and four months' imprisonment, on a charge of
incitement against the Ban and the Magyar nation.
"' Cf. Neue Freie Presse, January 11, 1908.
117
CHAPTER VI
Bishop Strossmayer and the Renaissance
of Croatian Culture
Sve za vjeru i za domovinu.
(All for faith and fatherland). — Motto of Strossmayer.
THE well-known Italian statesman Marco Minghetti once
assured the Belgian publicist Emile de Laveleye that
he had had the opportunity of observing at close quarters
almost all the eminent men of his time. " There are only two,"
h^ added, " who gave me the impression of belonging to another
species than ourselves. These two were Bismarck and Stross-
mayer." The man of whom this high tribute was spoken
arrested the attention of Western Europe on the memorable
occasion of the Vatican Council, when his eloquence led the
opposition to the doctrine of Infallibility and his courage
recorded one of the three dissentient votes. But Strossmayer's
true claim to immortality rests, not upon his espousal of
liberalism in the Church, but upon his services to the cause
of Croatian nationality and culture. Rarely has any patriot
so completely justified the title of " First Son of the Nation "
(Prvi Sin Naroda) ; and Strossmayer must always occupy a
prominent place in any account of Croatia. ^^^
Joseph George Strossmayer was born on February 4, 1815,
at Osijek (Essek), the capital of Slavonia ; his family was of
German-Austrian origin, but had long since been completely
Croaticized. After studying at the gymnasium of his native
town and the seminary of Diakovo, he proceeded to the Uni-
versity of Pest, where he astonished his professors by his
brilliant powers of dialectic. " He will be either the chief
1" The standard life of Bishop Strossmayer is in Croatian, by Mon-
signor Cepelic and Pavic. But it is out of print ; I have failed to secure
a secondhand copy in Agram, and it is not in any library which I have
been able to consult during the last twelve months.
118
"FIRST SON OF THE NATION"
heretic of the century," exclaimed the president of the ex-
amining board, " or the chief pillar of the Catholic Church "
{aut primus haereticus saeculi aut prima columna catholicae
ecclesiae)}"^^ After three years as chaplain at Peterwardein,
he was in 1847 appointed a court chaplain and director of
the Augustineum ^^° in Vienna.
As one of the most elegant Latinists of his time,^^^ he was
specially acceptable to the ecclesiastical authorities, while his
active enthusiasm for the cause of Croatian nationality and
literature brought him into touch with Jellacic, Kulmer and
Ozegovic. It was their influence at Court which secured for
him, at the early age of thirty-four, the vacant Bishopric of
Djakovo, to which he was nominated on November 18, 1849.
This ancient see, formed out of the united dioceses of Bosnia
and Syrmia,^^2 is one of the largest in Europe, not only embracing
the districts named but also exercising a nominal sway over
the Catholics of Servia. For close upon half a century its
enormous revenues ^^^ were devoted by the patriot Bishop to
the furtherance of national traditions and culture. The
Croat motto which he adopted at his consecration, was
realized as truly in a financial as in any other sense, " Sve za
vjeru i domovinu " — " All for faith and fatherland." Com-
mencing with the foundation of new schools in his immediate
neighbourhood, he steadily increased the endowments of almost
all the secondary schools in the country. A fund of £4,000
was devoted to improving the condition of the clergy of
Syrmia. A seminary, with Croat language of instruction, was
founded for young Bosnian clerics. Bulgarian Uniate students
"* As M. de Laveleye sarcastically adds : " It was not the fault of
Pius IX and the Vatican Council if the first part of the prophecy was
not fulfilled." {See his Balkan Peninsula, p. 32.)
"0 One of the most important theological seminaries in Austria.
"1 Long afterwards, at the Vatican Council, "he earned the praise of
being primus orator Chrislianitaiis." He told Laveleye that Latin was
the language in which he could express himself most clearly (p. 47).
"2 The official title is " Episcopatus bosnensis, diacovensis et sir-
miensis." The bishopric of Bosnia was originally subject to the Arch-
bishop of Salona, but in the thirteenth century, owing to troubles with
the Bogomile heretics, was transferred to Diakovo. In 1773 Clement
XIV united the sees of Bosnia and Syrmia under the Archbishop of
Agram. In 1881, however, a special Archbishopric of Sarajevo was
erected, which has since then been occupied by Monsignor Stadler.
"3 According to Laveleye (p. 46) they averaged 150,000 florins
(= ;^i2,ooo) a year.
119
STROSSMAYER AND CROATIAN CULTURE
were educated at his expense. The Slav Chapter of St. Jerome
in Rome ^^* was restored and endowed.
From the very first his interest centred upon hterary and
philological studies. Acting from the conviction that historic
research and accurate knowledge of the past are essential
foundations of all national achievement, he sought out such
students as would be ready to devote themselves to literary
and historical pursuits. Francis Racki, the pioneer of his-
torical research in Croatia, owed his training and leisure to
the great Bishop. Theiner, the well-known Vatican librarian,
received his support in the collection of Southern Slav docu-
ments.^^^ The brothers Miladinovic edited and published at his
expense the first collection of Bulgarian popular songs. Even
the great Servian philologists Vuk Karadzic and Danicic, were
under deep obligation to his generosity. Indeed there is no
learned society among the Southern Slavs which has not at
one time or another enjoyed Bishop Strossmayer's benefac-
tions.
But unquestionably his greatest and most lasting achieve-
ment was the foundation of the Southern Slav Academy of
Science and Art at Agram, which was the result of his generous
initiative. In i860 Strossmayer and Racki discussed the idea,
and the Bishop offered the sum of £4,000 as a preliminary sub-
scription, which he afterwards augmented to more than double
that amount. The letter in which he announced his intention
to Ban Sokcevic is a kind of national manifesto, ascribing the
backwardness of the Serbo-Croat language and literature to
lack of united effort, and insisting upon Zagreb's fitness to
become the centre of " a scientific society which is destined to
give a common impulse to the intellectual movement among
the Bulgars, Serbs and Croats." ^^^
Croatia responded to Strossmayer's appeal, and in July,
1861, the Diet made the scheme its own. Long bureaucratic
delays ensued before the royal sanction was obtained for the
statutes of the new institution, which naturally awakened no
enthusiasm among the Viennese advocates of Centralism. At
length on July 28, 1867, the Southern Slav Academy was
formally opened by its founder and inspirer. M. Louis Leger,
who attended as the representative of the Sorbonne, has put
^** S. Girolamo degli Schiavoni.
^*^ Vetera Monumenta Slavorum Meridionalium historiam illustrantia
(Rome, 1863).
"* December 10, i860, cit. Zagorsky, op. cit. pp. 107-8,
120
THE SOUTHERN SLAV ACADEMY
upon record that he had " rarely met with so touching a
popularity " ^^'^ as that which the ovation accorded to Stross-
mayer revealed ; but the Government ungraciously forbade
all decorations or illuminations in the streets of Zagreb. The
Bishop's inaugural address, which is celebrated as a classic
example of Croat oratory, was primarily devoted to the
relations of science and religion, and to an eulogy of great
French thinkers, notably Pascal and Bossuet, Chateaubriand
and Montesquieu, At the close, he referred briefly to the
hostile charge that he squandered the revenues of the Church
upon mundane objects. " Thanks be to God," he said, " I am
not the sole culprit : I have as my accomplices our whole
clergy, to the very last man. This clergy knows that all
which is done for the faith is profitable to science, and that all
which is done for science is to the advantage of the faith.
Let the whole nation realize that in future we shall not allow
ourselves to be deterred by any accusation or insult from the
path which we have marked out. We shall discharge con-
scientiously the duties of our ministry, but we shall also
develop with all our powers all those interests which affect the
material and moral progress of our people, its existence and
its future." ^^^
The academy thus constituted consists of thirty-two elected,
sixty corresponding and sixteen honorary members. Its
activity is divided among various special committees, deal-
ing with antiquities, ancient manuscripts, art, folklore, seis-
mology and zoology. Its publications exceed 300 volumes
and include scholarly editions of the earlier Croat poets, col-
lections of documents dealing with Southern Slav history, and
a monumental dictionary modelled on that of Littre. The
Academy buildings contain an interesting museum of antiqui-
ties and a large library. ^^^ In 1884 Bishop Strossmayer added
to his other benefactions by presenting a gallery of over 300
paintings, collected by him during his annual visits to Italy.
Though hostile critics have sometimes accused it of being
swayed by political passion, it is beyond dispute that the
Academy succeeded from the first moment of its existence in
concentrating within its walls the best scholarship and scientific
talent of which the country was possessed.
1" Leger, p. 131. "* Cit. Leger, p. 182.
^** In igo2 it contained over 1,800 manuscripts, many of great value
for the history of Slav literature, and 25,000 charters and other docu-
ments. — Die ost-ung. Mon. in Wort und Bild {Kroatien), p. 178.
121
STROSSMAYER AND CROATIAN CULTURE
The first President of the Academy was Don Frane Racki,
the real founder of historical criticism among the Southern
Slavs. Born in 1828 of a peasant family on the coast of
Croatia, Racki was educated for the priesthood. Even as a
young seminarist in Vienna, he attracted the attention of
Strossmayer ; the enthusiasm with which he studied the
charters and the Glagolitic texts of his native diocese won him
a vacant canonry at the Illyrian college of San Girolamo in
Rome. He soon became a recognized authority on the lan-
guage and liturgy of the ancient Slavs, and as a result of
his researches in the Secret Archives of the Vatican and
other libraries, published in 1857 and the following years a
work dealing with the Slav apostles C3n:il and Methodius
and the old Slav alphabet which they had employed.
Under his editorship the so-called Codex Assemanianus in
the Vatican was published in its original alphabet ; and as
Cardinal Haulik refused to accept the dedication of the book,
owing to its bearing upon the delicate problem of the Slav
liturgy, it appeared under the patronage and at the expense of
Bishop Strossmayer.^^'' Racki's latest biographer seeks, not
without success, to prove that his national prejudices in-
fluenced his judgment to a far less degree than his Catholic
convictions ^^^ ; but it would be absurd to deny that in all his
laborious researches the historian was inspired by the belief
that they would serve to kindle the flame of national feeling.
In i860 Strossmayer invited Racki to take up his residence
at Djakovo, and henceforth he became the adviser and col-
laborator in all his projects, whether literary or political.
Four years later he began, in conjunction with Professor
Jagic,^^^ to publish a review devoted to history and philology,
and as the zealous advocate of Vuk Karadzic's reforms in
Croat orthography, was exposed to violent opposition from
the conservative school of writers ; nor was this opposition
diminished when he organized a small conference of com-
petent students to discuss the publication of a philological
dictionary of the Croat language. Spite and intrigue secured
Racki's dismissal from the post of inspector of secondary schools
^8" Zagorsky, p. 57.
^*i Zagorsky, p. 62. An improved edition was published in 1878 at
Rome, by Ivan Crncic.
192 Now the chief living Slavistic scholar; till his retirement in 1908,
professor at Vienna University and editor of the Archiv fur slavische
Philologie (Berlin).
122
THE CROATIAN UNIVERSITY
which he had held since his return from Rome. It was hoped
that the material loss which this involved would compel him
to resign the presidency of the new Academy and to leave
Zagreb, where his presence was most unwelcome to a Mag-
yarone Government. But here again the situation was saved
by the Bishop's generosity. " Brother will not abandon
brother," he wrote to Racki. " I guarantee you all you need
till you find another post. If the same misfortune occurred
to me, we would live together and share between us all we
had. On no account abandon the presidency of the Academy."
Racki remained at his post, and did much to give the Academy
its distinctive note. Above all, it was his enthusiasm for the
idea of Southern Slav unity which prevented its outlook from
becoming exclusively Croat and won for Agram the services
of George Danicic, the most brilliant Serb scholar since Vuk.
Bishop Strossmayer did not rest content with the project of
an academy. On April 29, 1861, he laid before the Diet a
scheme for the erection of a national Croatian University.
The idea was received with acclamation ; statutes were drawn
up and embodied in a law, but thanks to the opposition of the
Centralists in Vienna the royal sanction was withheld. In
October, 1866, during the festivities which celebrated the
tercentenary of Zrinsky's heroic defence against the Turks,
Strossmayer once more raised the question of an university
and not merely started a public fund by subscribing £4,000,
but promised his annual salary as High Sheriff as a further
contribution. Roused by his example, the city of Agram
subscribed an equal amount, and Archbishop Mihalovic
£2,500 ; and within a short period of time over £30,000 had
been collected — a remarkable achievement, when we consider
the scanty resources at Croatia's disposal. When Francis
Joseph paid his state visit to Agram after the conclusion of the
Compromise, the statutes were at length sanctioned (1869) ;
but the political differences with Hungary interposed a further
delay of five years before the final obstacles were removed.
In October, 1874, the University of Agram was opened by
the Ban Mazuranic, representing the Sovereign. This time the
city was free to don festive dress, and enthusiastic crowds
greeted Bishop Strossmayer as the father of his country. ^^^
The imiversity, though small and lacking a medical faculty,
has proved a credit to its originators. Though at first obliged
^'^ Laveleye, p. 36.
123
STROSST^IAYER AND CROATIAN CULTURE
to recruit its professors from other Slav countries, notably
from Bohemia, it has gradually succeeded in filling the neces-
sary posts with native talents, and in its thirty years of life
can show the names of many scholars of repute, i^*
No sketch of Bishop Strossmayer would be complete
without some reference to the Cathedral of Djakovo, to
whose erection he devoted for many years a considerable
proportion of the income of his see. It was in the truest
sense a labour of love, for it was designed to be an apotheo-
sis in stone of all the ideas which its creator held most
sacred — a vindication of Christianity on soil once profaned
by Turkish rule, an outpost of the Cross on the frontier of
Moslem Bosnia, and at the same time a monument of Croatian
art and architecture, in which the reviving national feeling
should find its full expression. The Church is built in the
ancient Lombard style, with lofty towers similar to those of
S. Zeno at Verona. ^^^ The chief material used is brick of a
rich red colour ; the mouldings and cornices are of Illyrian
limestone. The interior is decorated with national Croat
designs and frescoes from the Old and New Testament by the
painters Seitz. The centre of the apse shows the Southern
Slav peoples, guided by the pious founder to the throne of
our Lord and His mother. Other scenes represent the first
preaching of the Gospel in Slavonic countries. Apart from its
rich artistic treasures, the interior is marked by a severe and
medieval simplicity, worthy of that purified Catholicism which
filled the dreams of the great bishop.
His keen opposition to the dogma of Infallibility at the
Vatican Council of 1869-1870 exposed him to many attacks,
and destroyed all hope of his succeeding Haulik in the vacant
archiepiscopal see of Zagreb. Incidentally it won him the
close friendship of such champions of liberty within the Church
as Acton and Dollinger, who were equally attracted b}^ his
1"* It may be worth citing the following names : in history, Smiciklas,
Klaic, Nodilo and SiSic ; in constitutional law, Pliveric (the standard
Croat authority on the Compromise), Vrbanic (a specialist on the
financial relations with Hungary), TomaSic (the present Ban) ; in civil
law, BogiSic (author of the Montenegrin Civil Code) ; in criminal law,
Silovic and Rojc ; in zoology, Brusina ; in art, KrSnjavi (the trans-
lator of Dante and re-organizer of secondary education) ; in literature,
Surmin (author of a standard literary history).
^*5 Its height is 84 metres, its length 78, its greatest breadth 60. {See
Wort und Bild (Kroatien), p. 500 ; Laveleye, op. cit. pp. 41-2 ; W. Hitter,
Bveques Artistes (Gand, 1890).)
124
STROSSMAYER AS CHURCHMAN
saintly personality, his wide culture and the enthralling charm
of his Latin oratory. But while the latter carried his resistance
to the point of secession, Strossmayer, after gallantly recording
his vote in a minority of three, submitted to the superior
verdict of the Church, and henceforward abstained from all
criticism of the obnoxious dogma. That he welcomed the fall
of the Temporal Power as a scarcely disguised blessing, was
only to be expected from a man of his wide outlook on the
frontier between Western and Eastern culture ; and his
interesting correspondence with Gladstone i^^ shows that he
regarded as its necessary consequence a far-reaching reform of
the Roman Curia, such as would curtail the undue influence of
Italian prelates and restore to it its former universal character.
He shared with Mr, Gladstone and so many other leaders of
thought and opinion the pious wish for the reunion of Christen-
dom. But with him this aspiration had a highly practical
side, in his efforts to promote good feeling and if possible union
between the Churches of Rome and the East. Realizing
keenly the hindrances which religious rivalry placed in the
way of national progress among the Southern Slavs, he felt
that their removal would be the surest means of realizing alike
his national and his religious ideals. Unhappily, his efforts
were misunderstood by the Orthodox clergy, especially in
Servia and Russia : he was unjustly attacked as a mere agent
of Vatican propagandism ; and when in 1885 he proposed to
pay a pastoral visit to the Catholics of Belgrad, the Servian
Government declined to guarantee his personal safety, and the
visit had to be abandoned. ^"^
While his schemes of reunion were foredoomed to failure,
his zealous advocacy of the neglected Slav Liturgy known as
the Glagolitic rite drew upon him the disapproval of the
Ultramontane party. But the scholarly Leo XHI, who was
keenly interested in all matters concerning the Eastern Church,
was fully alive to the important part which the " Glagolitza "
i»6 See Appendix XVII.
19' Such is the intolerance of the Servians towards Catholicism, that
a Barnabite Father sent by Strossmayer to minister to the thousands
of Italian workmen engaged in railway work in Servia, was assaulted,
injured and obliged to leave the country. In Servia the clergy are
sunk in formalism, and their influence is national, not religious. In
Bosnia, on the other hand, the Catholics, under Archbishop Stadler,
have shown distinct leanings to aggression and proselytism, but mainly
towards the Moslem population, among whom they have met with
scanty success.
125
STROSSMAYER AND CROATIAN CULTURE
might play in winning the peoples of the Balkan peninsula to
Catholicism. Throughout his pontificate the ancient liturgy
was tolerated, and within certain limits actually encouraged,
and the publication of Slavonic missals and their distribution
permitted. It was only under his less statesmanlike successor
and his fanatical advisers that the Glagolitic clergy fell once
more into disfavour at Rome and their rite was materially
restricted.
In 1885 the thousandth anniversary of the Slav apostle St.
Methodius was widely celebrated in Russia, and on this occa-
sion Strossmayer sent a telegram of congratulation. His
enemies, especially in Budapest, made much capital out of
the incident, and represented his action — prompted as it was
by a lifelong veneration for the Slav apostles — as an insult
to the Holy See and to the Dual Monarchy ! Once more Pope
Leo was too sagacious to be misled by such obvious bias, and
received him graciously when he appeared in Rome in 1888
at the head of a large Southern Slav pilgrimage. But the
Emperor Francis Joseph, misled by his Magyar entourage, ^^^
was unhappily prevailed upon to administer a public rebuke
to the Bishop, when the latter came to pay his respects on the
occasion of manoeuvres in Slavonia. A rejoinder was natur-
ally impossible ; and the Bishop, now old and frail, was deeply
wounded by the unmerited disfavour of his Sovereign, but
henceforth abstained from all political action. The most
regrettable feature of the incident was that it lent colour to
the behef, already widely current among the Southern Slavs,
that the Monarch showed a marked preference for the Magyars
and disliked the Croats. This unhappy legend will meet us
on a later occasion.
A lifelong desire of Bishop Strossmayer was to survive the
expulsion of the Turks from Europe, and thus to witness what
seemed to him the just retribution for the sufferings inflicted
upon his race and his religion. Hence the rising in Bosnia,
which formed a titular dependency of his diocese, commanded
his whole sympathies and interest. He never lost an oppor-
tunity of pleading the cause of the Southern Slavs, whether
Bosnia, Servia or Bulgaria were involved ; and by means of
his numerous connexions with eminent Frenchmen, he was
able to influence very materially French public opinion during
i»8 xhe Chauvinist Coloman Tisza, notorious for his constant viola-
tions of the Croatian Compromise and the Law of Nationalities, was
then Premier of Hungary (1875-90).
126
STROSSMAYER AND GLADSTONE
the Eastern crisis. Through the medium of Lord Acton, he
entered into correspondence with Mr. Gladstone, and in a
series of effective if rhetorical letters expressed his gratitude
for the famous pamphlet on " Bulgarian Atrocities " and
advocated the liberation and autonomy of the Christian
peoples of the Balkans, i^** It is interesting to note that while
in 1876 he urged upon Gladstone that Bosnia should be placed
under the protection of Servia, in February, 1878 (soon after
the Congress had been decided upon), he already recognized
this solution to be impracticable, and favoured the complete
autonomy of Bosnia and the cession of Old Servia to Servia by
way of compensation. It is impossible not to regret that
nothing ever came of his tentative suggestion that he should
appear before the Congress to plead the cause of his Bosnian
kinsmen. The sight of the great Christian orator before that
distinguished gathering of diplomatic freebooters would have
afforded equal food for reflection to the cynic and the moralist.
In the following year he expresses his fears lest Austria may
introduce into the occupied provinces her old superannuated
system, instead of fulfilling her natural mission as the bulwark
between Slav and Teuton. Though he " would gladly give
his life to save this splendid state," he considered Austria
under present conditions less likely to allay complications than
to introduce into every question the seed of future discord.
In his view the real evil lay in Magyar predominance in the
counsels of the state, and in that race's policy " of blind hatred
towards the Slavs " ; and he had therefore openly deplored
the influence exerted by Andrassy upon Disraeli during the
Eastern Crisis. In December, 1878, he agreed with M. de
Laveleye in regarding Austrian rule in Bosnia as a necessity :
" but whether it will be an advantage to Austria will depend
upon the policy adopted. If Vienna, or rather Pest, means to
govern the new provinces by Hungarians or Germans, and for
their profit, the Austrians will finish by being more hated than
the Turks." 200 He was ready to re-echo the cry of the Slovak
patriot Hodza in 1848, " Rather the Russians than the Mag-
yars." It was only in this sense that Strossmayer was a Pan-
Slav. In the true political significance of the word, he was
anything but Pan-Slav, Like Palacky and many other dis-
"* Strossmayer and Gladstone never met, though a meeting was
more than once arranged by their mutual friends, and thus the encoun-
ter between Bossuet and Leibnitz, to which the Bishop playfully alludes
in one of his letters, remained a dream.
^°" Laveleye, op. cit. pp. 30-31.
127
STROSSMAYER AND CROATIAN CULTURE
tinguished Slavs in the Habsburg Monarchy, he believed it the
mission of Austria, and desired to see her great and prosperous.
It was his misfortune that his faith in Austria was greater than
the faith of those who controlled her destiny, and the bitter
disillusionments of his political career would have amply
excused an attitude of open hostility on his part. If he still
hoped for a brighter future, this was due not to any signs
of statesmanship in Vienna — for this the Magyars monopolized
till the close of Strossmayer's long life — but solely to the
unconquerable optimism of the Christian prelate.
We may conclude this sketch of Bishop Strossmayer's career
by quoting the personal impressions of M. de Laveleye on the
occasion of their first meeting. " He appeared to me like a
saint of the Middle Ages, such as Era Angelico painted on the
walls of the cells of San Marco in Florence. His face was
refined, thin, ascetic ; his light hair, brushed back, surrounded
his head like a halo ; his grey eyes were clear, luminous,
inspired. A sharp yet gentle flame beamed from them, the
reflection of a great intellect and a noble heart. His speech is
easy, glowing, full of imagery ; but although he speaks French,
German, Italian and Latin besides the Slav languages, with
equal ease, no one of these dialects can furnish him with terms
sufficiently expressive for the complete rendering of his thought,
and so he uses them by turns. He takes from each the word,
the epithet, he needs, or he even uses the synonyms that come
from them all. It is when he finally arrives at Latin that his
sentences flow with unequalled breadth and power. He says
precisely what he thinks, without reticence, without diplomatic
reserve, with the abandon of a child and the insight of genius.
Entirely devoted to his country, desiring nothing for himself,
he fears no one here below ; as he seeks only what he believes
to be good, just and true, he has nothing to conceal." 201
The great Bishop died, at the age of ninety, on April 10,
1905, on the eve of a new political era in Croatia. As a poli-
tician, he lacked balance and restraint, and was swayed by
sentiment to an excessive degree. But as an intellectual and
moral force, as the patron and inspirer of thought and culture,
his influence upon Croatia and the Southern Slav world cannot
be exaggerated. As Jellacic typifies the military prowess and
loyalty of the Croat, so Strossmayer stands for those qualities
of faith and romantic idealism for which the best sons of the
race have been distinguished.
201 Op. cit. p. 30.
128
CHAPTER VII
An Outline of Croat and Serb Literature
Non erunt ultra duae gentes, nee dividentur in duo regna ; sed
fiet unum ovile et unus pastor. — Kri^anic.^"^
BEFORE we return to the less congenial atmosphere of
modern politics, it may be well to lay before the reader
a brief outline of literary development among the Croats and
Serbs.
In striking contrast to many politicians, who seem to take
a malicious delight in magnifying imaginary differences, the
whole tendency of Southern Slav philologists and literary his-
torians has been directed towards a unified language for the
Croat and Serb race. In theory this has already been attained,
and to-day every savant whose researches and opinions carry
the slightest weight are unanimous in regarding " the Serbo-
Croat language," as they prefer to call it, as a literary unit.
Indeed, in the field of literature Croat and Serb are but two
names for one and the same language, whose divergences of
dialect are mainly the result of geography, not of racial or
religious distribution. The Croats use the Latin alphabet,
modified in accordance with the rules of modern Bohemian
orthography, the Serbs, the Cyrillic alphabet as reformed by
Vuk Karad^i6 ; other distinction there is none. But the arti-
ficial barrier of the rival alphabets has prevented the con-
sciousness of their essential unity from extending beyond the
small educated minority.
As there lurks behind this distinction " the religious Dualism
(Catholicism, Orthodoxy) and the Dualism of name (Croat,
Serb) with divergent ideals for the future, the external trap-
pings assume a deeper significance than the parallel use of
two alphabets in the German language. Indeed, the masses of
the people still look upon the literary products of one alphabet
^"^ So runs the prophecy of one of the earliest Croat writers.
S.S.Q. 129 K
CROAT AND SERB LITERATURE
only as their spiritual possession, thereby reducing by half not
merely the circulation but also the capacity for production. ^"^
Instead of a single literature possessed by a race of seven or
eight millions, which under favourable circumstances could do
splendid work, there really still exist two smaller literatures,
each with three to four million adherents." ^o*
The Serbo-Croat language falls into three main dialects which
are distinguished by the varying form of the word " what,"
as the "la," the " sto," and the " kaj." The last of these is
spoken in north-west Croatia, from the neighbourhood of
Karlstadt to the river Mur, and forms the link between Serbo-
Croat and Slovene. The first (ca) is confined to Istria, North
Dalmatia, the Croatian seacoast, the Dalmatian islands.
The central or sto-dialect is the most extensively spoken —
throughout Slavonia, South-east Croatia, South Hungary,
Servia, Bosnia, Herzegovina, South Dalmatia and Montenegro,
and now occupies a dominant position in the literature of the
race. It is spoken in its purest form in Herzegovina, ^"^ which
203 Incredible as it must appear to any foreigner, there is no Antho-
logy in existence which includes both Croat and Serb poets within the
same covers. The admirable Hrvatska Antologija contains the best
work of Preradovic, Mazuranic and other Croat poets ; for the Vladika
Peter and Jovanovic we must go to Serb collections. The two are kept
in airtight compartments by what can only be described as childishly
provincial bigotry.
A rednctio ad ahsurdum of this artificial barrier is supplied by an
ostensibly scientific essay published by the " Club of the Starc^evic-
ian Academic Youth," in other words, by a group of school-
boys, who in Croatia, instead of rowing and playing football, are en-
couraged to dabble in politics and to waste their time squabbhng in
cafes. ' At the present day ' — so runs the argument — ' almost all
savants are of opinion that the Croatian language should be called ' Croat
or Serb,' and this phrase has found its way even into the Croatian
schools. The Club, on the contrary, being of opinion that such a
description is radically false, has requested Mr. G. to treat this question
in detail, and this pamphlet is the result.' Mr. G. argues that unity of
accent is the best test of unity of language, and as the " §to " and " ca "
dialects differ greatly in accent, they are two different languages !
The name " Serb " is just as false as the name " Bosnian." This sort
of rubbish is seriously encouraged by the Frank Party. (See Prilog
poznavanja akcenatske teorije Mazuraniceve u obziru na komentator-
ska domisljanja, Zagreb, 1907.)
2"* Jagic, Die slavischen Sprachen, p. 22 (Kultur der Gegenwart,vol. ix).
^"5 Three sub-dialects can be distinguished, according to pronuncia-
tion, e.g. the word for "beautiful" is lijep (lee-ape) in Herzegovina,
Montenegro, South Dalmatia ; lep (lape) in Servia ; lip (leep) in Sla-
vonia, Bosnia. This last is no longer written at all, and only the first
is regarded as literary. Jagic, p. 26.
130
THE BALLADS OF KOSSOVO
is celebrated as the Tuscany of the Southern Slavs, and this
fact is admitted by all sections of the race. But the com-
parative ease with which this dialect won its recognized
position was due at least in part to the proximity of Herzegovina
to the Republic of Ragusa, which witnessed the first important
development of Croat literature. The chief characteristic of
the language is its close adherence to the speech of the people :
the purest style is that which reflects this most faithfully.
The earliest literature of the Southern Slavs is liturgical in
character. The Glagolitic manuscripts of the Adriatic coast-
line, the miraculous lives of Servian saints, and the laws of
Stephen Dusan are the only literary landmarks of the Middle
Ages. The destruction of the Slav states of the Balkans by
the Turks arrested all development at the very moment when
culture and education were beginning to flourish ; and the
ignorance and stagnation of the Orthodox Church completed
what Turkish barbarism had begun. But the downfall of
Servian independence produced a splendid crop of ballad
poetry, rude, irregular, but spontaneous and inspired, brim-
ming over from the heart of a proud and unhappy people,
and unequalled in Europe save by the Spanish Cid and the
bards of the Scottish Border. The whole cycle of ballads is
dominated by the fatal defeat of Kossovo, the Flodden of the
Balkans, and by the mythical figures of its heroes — Marko
Kraljevic, the freux chevalier of Southern Slav legend ; Milos
Obilic, unjustly charged with treachery and sealing his loyalty
with the Sultan's blood ; Vuk Brankovic, the real traitor,
trusted and deceiving, branded by a whole nation's curse.
But above all others towers Marko, with his giant frame and
charmed life, typifying by his deeds of prowess the ideals of a
primitive people, by his death the political death of the nation,
by his enchanted slumber its resurrection and future freedom.
Such poetry, as an English poet has justly observed, has its
origin " not in the heads of a few, but in the hearts of all."
" It is the sword of a Crusader in the scabbard of a Turk." -°^
The situation of Dalmatia on the border line between Slav
and Latin culture, exposed that province to the influence of
the Italian Renaissance and gave it a natural pre-eminence
over its kinsmen under'^Turkish sw^y. Marko Marulic, a native
of Spalato, whose epic poem Judith was completed in 1501
208 " Owen Meredith " (Robert, Earl of Lytton), Serb ski Pesme, p. x
(1861, London).
131
CROAT AND SERB LITERATURE
and first printed in 1521, is regarded as " the father of Croat
Hterature," though he himself speaks of earher poets. But
the real cradle of Serbo-Croat literature is the tiny Republic
of Ragusa, which by the middle of the sixteenth century was
the only fragment of Southern Slav territory which could boast
its complete freedom from foreign rule. Its earlier group of
poets, whose work was closely modelled on the Italian lyrics and
dramas of the late Renaissance from Sannazaro and Politian to
Tasso, does not call for comment here. But Ivan Gundulid
(1588-1638) demands recognition not merely as the eulogist
of that miniature Venice, the gem of medieval Slav towns, but
as the first great poet of the Slavonic world. His pastoral
play Duhravka is modelled on the Aminta of Tasso ; but so
far from being a mere slavish imitation, treats in a highly
■original manner the congenial theme of Ragusan liberties.
But his masterpiece is the romantic epic Osman, which cele-
brates the struggle of the Cross against the Crescent and the
services rendered by the Slav nations in the cause of Christen-
dom. Here again the analogy with Tasso 's Gerusalenime
Liberata is more apparent than real. Gunduli<5's choice of the
octosyllabic metre gives the poem an entirely different flavour,
and his fervent, not to say fanatical, Catholicism deterred him
from adapting Tasso's fantastic device of a Christian hero as
the lover of an infidel. Osman is more modern in spirit and
construction, and shows real insight into the Turkish character.
On its own merits as a work of imaginative genius, it can hardly
be compared to its more famous Italian rival ; but when we
consider the linguistic difficulties with which its author had to
contend and the relative positions of the Italian and Croat
languages in his day, we must admit Osman to be a work of
extraordinary merit.
Gundulic was followed in Ragusa by numerous minor poets ;
but the dreadful earthquake of 1667 proved as fatal to the
Republic's literary activity as to its commercial prosperity.
The censorship which Venice exercised in her Dalmatian do-
minions and the absence of a printing press on the eastern side
of the Adriatic, 207 checked all literary progress in Dalmatia
2"' Even Ragusa, from fear of the Turks, printed its books in Italy.
Murko, Die siidslavische Literatur (Kultur der Gegenwart), p. 216.
Baron John Ungnad, the former Governor of Stjnria, established
printing presses in Tubingen and Urach for Southern Slav books, especi-
ally in the Glagolitic and Cyrilline alphabets. The object was to
132
THE POETS OF RAGUSA
until quite modern times. To this statement there is one
brilhant exception — the Franciscan friar, Andrew Kacic, from
the neighbourhood of Makarska, who may be regarded as a
hnk between the poets of Ragusa and the modern popular
school. During his numerous journeys through Bosnia as a
Papal legate, he gathered ancient manuscripts and charters,
and listened to the recitations of peasant bards. In 1759 he
published a collection of his own poems entitled Pleasant
Sonversations of the Slav People (Razgovor Ugodni naroda
Slovinskoga), afterwards known under the simpler title of The
Book of Songs (Pjesmarica). In it he celebrates the exploits
of Croat, Serb and Bulgar heroes, adhering so closely to popular
lines of thought and expression. His book enjoyed immense
popularity, and marked out the lines which Vuk Karadzic was
to follow sixty years later in his linguistic reforms. The folk-
songs scattered through its pages came under the notice of
Herder when he was preparing his " Songs of the Nations,"
and so introduced the popular poetry of the Serbs for the first
time to the Western world.
Meanwhile in Croatia there was no favourable field for literary
effort ; the whole life of the nation was absorbed by the
struggle against the Turks. But two outstanding figures of
Croatian history in the seventeenth century left a literary
legacy behind them. Francis Frankopan beguiled the last
weeks of his imprisonment by composing songs, and his kins-
man and fellow-conspirator Count Peter Zrinjsky, published
Croat paraphrases of the Magyar poems of his brother Nicholas
— The Siren of the Adriatic and the Siege of Sziget, which cele-
brates the exploits and death of their heroic ancestor. The
interest which these versions possess is chiefly historical and
political.
The eighteenth century is equally barren in literary achieve-
ment. The only figure which deserves mention by the side
of Kacic is Matthew Reljkovic, an officer in the Military
Frontiers, who was captured by the Prussians during the Seven
Years' War and employed his captivity in comparing the
situation of his own country to that of the civilized West.
The result of his observations was published in the form of a
lengthy epic, composed in decasyllabics and bearing the strange
title of The Satyr or the Wild Man (Satir ilidivljicovjek, 1761,
Protestantize the Southern Slavs and through them the whole Balkan
Peninsula. — Murko, p. 217.
133
CROAT AND SERB LITERATURE
Dresden). In spite of its didactic tone, its commonplace ideas,
and the depreciatory terms in which it refers to many popular
customs, Reljkovic's work enjoyed a popularity almost as great
as that of the Franciscan friar.
Napoleon's Illyrian experiment, while responsible for a re-
vival of literary effort among the Slovenes, produced no imme-
diate effect upon the Croats. Nor was Servia's recovery of
independence accompanied by any outburst of poetic talent.
The vivifying force which led to a literary revival in the
nineteenth century, came from among the Serbs ; but it was
the Serbs of Hungary, Slavonia and Bosnia, not those of the
young principality. - We have already seen that Dositej
Obradovic, the founder of education in Servia, was a native
of the Banat. But his autobiography and other didactic
works, despite the enormous influence which they undoubtedly
exercised in so barren a field as Turk-ridden Servia, do not
possess a high literary value and are essentially for his own
age rather than for posterity.
A far greater figure was the linguistic reformer Vuk Stef anovic
Karadzic, best known as Vuk. Born in 1787 at a small village
on the frontier between Servia and Bosnia, he acted during the
first rising against the Turks as an interpreter of letters to the
illiterate Serb commander of his district. But when in 1813
Kara George was forced for a time to abandon the struggle,
Vuk found his way to Vienna, and at the instance of Kopitar,
the foremost Slavistic scholar of his day, devoted himself to
the collection and study of Serb popular poetry and stories.
In 1814 he published a hundred of these popular lyrics and six
of the " Hero-Songs " (Junacke Pesme) which fill so large a
place in the imagination of the Serb and Croat people. A book
of such marked originality could not fail to attract attention,
and the romantic movement in the West, then at its height,
welcomed the popular poetry of the Serbs and made it possible
to publish ten years later in Leipzig a greatly enlarged edition
in four volumes. Inspired by the purit}?' of language and clas-
sic turn of phrase which he found in the ballads and songs of
the people, Vuk set himself the task of elevating the vernacular
to the position of the literary language and thus superseding
the conventional and artificial language which owed its sur-
vival to the favour of the Church authorities. To this end he
introduced phonetic reforms into the old Cyrillic alphabet,
consistently following the principle that a language should be
written as it is spoken, and conversely pronounced as it is
134
THE REFORMS OF VUK
written. His first grammar, based upon the Herzegovinian
dialect, appeared in 1814. But the most decisive influence was
exercised by his great Serb dictionary (Srpski Rijecnik) pub-
lished four years later at Vienna. The first edition contained
26,000 words, the second edition over 20,000 more, and is a
rich mine for the study not merely of literary evolution, but
of folklore and ethnography. For many years Vuk travelled
through the various Serb countries gathering fresh material ;
and the result of his journeys was a whole series of popular
tales, proverbs, anecdotes, songs and ballads, which have long
since become models of Serbo-Croat literary style. His re-
forming ideas were bitterly resented by the older generation,
especially by the Orthodox clergy, who until very recent times
have always opposed every form of innovation. The oppo-
sition centred round the Srpska Matica, the earliest Serb
literary society, which was founded at Pest in 1826 by Hadzic-
Svetic.^°^ Yet despite the prestige enjoyed by his opponents
and the violence with which he was attacked, Vuk persevered
in his course, and strong in the support of all the chief philo-
logists from Kopitar and Grimm to Dobrovsky and Safafik,
he gradually won over to his side the whole of the younger
generation. Some idea of the difficulties with which he had to
contend may be gathered from the fact that in 1832 his ortho-
graphy was actually forbidden in Servia and that from 1852
to i860 even his works were not allowed.^o^ But long before
his death in 1864, the ideas of Vuk had triumphed ; the final
blow to the old theories was administered by his brilliant pupil,
George Danicic in his Struggle for the Serb Language (Rat za
srprski jezik, 1847). The same writer, a Serb from Slavonia,
and for many years Secretary of the Southern Slav Academy
in Agram, gave a practical form to his advocacy of linguistic
reform by his eloquent Serb version of the Bible.
A contemporary of Vuk, Simon Milutinovic (1791-1847), is
the first Serb poet of note whom Bosnia has produced. Born
in Sarajevo, he studied in Belgrad and Karlovitz, but after-
wards spent a number of years in Germany, where he aroused
the interest of Goethe for Serb ballad poetry ,^^° became the
friend of Grimm and Uhland, and supplied considerable
material for Therese von Jakob, who under the pseudonym of
2"8 In 1864 it was transferred to Neusatz after the long feud had
been decided in Vuk's favour.
2o» Murko, p. 225.
-'° See Geothes Werke, Band xxxvii.
135
CROAT AND SERB LITERATURE
" Talvj " won a high reputation as the pioneer of Slav hterary
history in western lands. His epic Srhijanka is an attempt
to achieve for the Servian war of independence what the heroic
lays of Kossovo had achieved for that gloomier period of the
nation's history. Despite certain obvious faults of style and
expression, it was the first poem which could challenge com-
parison with the Osman of Gundulic. The influence of Milu-
tinovic, who spent five years in Montenegro before finally
settling at Belgrad, inspired his pupil, the future Vladika,
Peter II, with a love of poetry, which was soon to bear splendid
fruit. This prince, one of the most talented of a long succes-
sion of able rulers, is still regarded by many Servians as their
foremost poet. His first important poem, which bears the
unpromising title of The Light of the Microcosm, was composed
under the influence of Milton's Paradise Lost. But in his later
epic The Mountain Garland (Gorski Vijenac) he discards philo-
sophy for action, with the most admirable results. Its sub-
ject is the Montenegrin struggle for liberty, which culminated
in a famous massacre of the Moslem population in 1702.^^^
The poem cannot be assigned to any special category : in the
strict sense it is neither a drama nor an epic. But as a revela-
tion of Montenegrin character, as a glowing panegyric of one
of the few primitive peoples of the West, it ranks high in Serbo-
Croat literature. How unfavourable the conditions of Mon-
tenegro were to poetic talent, can best be realized from the
fact that Peter II found it necessary to melt down the type of
his newly-erected printing press as bullets for the Turkish war.
Yet the tradition survived in his own family, and his nephew,
Prince (now King) Nicholas, achieved wide fame by his patriotic
drama. The Empress of the Balkans (Balkanska Carica), which
has sometimes been regarded as indicating the direction of
its author's ambition.
While Prince Peter celebrated the glories of the Black Moun-
tain, Agram became the centre of a remarkable literary renais-
sance, best known as " The Illyrian movement." Its founder,
Ljudevit Gaj (1809-1872) had studied law in Vienna, Grazand
Pest, and in the latter capital fell under the influence of
the Slovak poet John Kollar, the apostle of " literary recipro-
city among all Slav nations." ^^^ Though full of ideas and
211 Sometimes known as the "Montenegrin Vespers," by analogy
with the Massacre of Sicilian Vespers in 1282.
212 For an account of Kollar and his works see my Racial Problems in
Hungary, pp. 51-57.
136
THE ILLYRIAN MOVEMENT
enthusiasm, Gaj had no great Hterary talent. His function
was that of the agitator and journahstic pioneer. His faculty
for catching the popular fancy is illustrated by his patriotic
song, " Still Croatia is not fallen, while we are yet alive " ;
frankly imitated from the famous Polish hymn, and set to a
peculiarly haunting melody, it became the " Marseillaise "
of lUyrism, and is still one of Croatia's chief national airs. But
its literary value is very slight indeed, and his other writings
are in no way superior. In the field of orthography and gram-
mar, however, his reforms are almost as important for the
Croats as those of Vuk for the Serbs. Based upon the sto-
dialect and upon the rules of orthography observed among
the Czechs, Gaj's reforms were adopted without any serious
opposition. His efforts to attain literary unity were of course
inspired by the dream of the political union of all Southern
Slavs. He was in many respects ahead of his age, and though
his ultimate aim is still far from attainment, the immediate
object is already an accomplished fact, and his ideal seems less
fantastic to-day than it seemed seventy years ago. But his
spirit is more needed than ever in the past, to combat the petty
forces of provincial conceit and jealousy, which form the great
hindrance to progress among the Southern Slavs.
The first real poet of Croat romanticism was Stanko Vraz
(1810-1851), who, though a Slovene by birth, wrote all his
lyrics in the Croat language. Though an enthusiast for popu-
lar poetry, he was under the influence of the romantic poets of
the west, and endeavoured to introduce foreign forms of lyrical
expression. His contemporary, Ivan Mazuranic (1813-1890),
afterwards Ban of Croatia, won the heart of the nation by his
noble epic The Death of Cengic Aga (Smrt Small- Aga Cengic),
which in a highly dramatic form depicts an incident of the long
struggle between Turk and Montenegrin. The poem strangely
blends those elements of grim savagery and Christian heroism
which the desperate nature of the struggle called forth. A
splendid sense of rhythm and a dehght in onomatopeic phrases,
are further characteristics of the poem. Mazuranic added to
his reputation by supplying the two missing cantos of Gundu-
lic's Osnian — a masterpiece of imitative skill.
The primacy among Croat poets, however, falls to Peter
Preradovic (18 18-1872), an Austrian officer who had originally
dabbled in German poetry and only discovered in middle life
the possibilities of his native tongue. One of his finest lyrics.
The Wanderer (Putnik) describes in allegorical phrases his
^37
CROAT AND SERB LITERATURE
return to national consciousness. His poetry breathes an
atmosphere of calm reflection and ripe thought, which only
render the more impressive his passionate belief in the future of
the race. His intimate friend, Ivan Trnski (1819-1909) also
enjoys a high reputation as a lyrical poet and as the translator
of many foreign classics ; but his work is less spontaneous in
tone and shows traces of artificiality. Meanwhile, Fra Grgo
Martic (1822-1902) became the mouthpiece of national feel-
ing among the Croats of Bosnia. His pathetic lyric The Tears
of Bosnia (Plac Bosne) and his long — indeed, well-nigh inter-
minable — epic The Avengers (Ostvetnici), make him a worthy
successor of that earlier Franciscan Kacic. But his work is
extremely uneven and lends itself to abridgment.
Among the Serbs the most brilliant poet of the last half-
century has been Jovan Jovanovic (1833-1904), christened
Zmaj (or " Dragon ") by his admiring countrymen. Zmaj
betrays his origin as a Hungarian Serb ; the great Magyar
lyrist Petofi is one of his favourite models, though it would be
useless to pretend that he attains to Petofi's fiery excellence.
In later years Zmaj devoted himself to writing poems for chil-
dren, and did much to encourage literature for the young in
Servia. Other Serb poets of real talent are George Jaksic
(1832-1878) and Laza Kostic (born 1841), author of the first
Serb drama Maksim Crnojevic and translator of several plays
of Shakespeare.
Dalmatia, the earliest home of Serbo-Croat literature, was
the last province to be affected by the revival of the nineteenth
century. Count Medo Pucic (1821-1882), the scion of an
ancient Ragusan family, and a poet in whom the Italian influ-
ences of his native town were strongly marked, was for many
years a solitary figure in Dalmatian literature. But he is not
without worthy successors. Count Ivo Vojnovic, in a brilliant
dramatic trilogy (Dubrovacka Trilogija) celebrated the dying
glories of the Republic of Ragusa, while his brother treated
the same subject from the standpoint of a historian. Antony
Tresic-Pavicic (born 1867) ^^^ in his lyrical poetry, seeks classic
and Italian models, and shows remarkable rhythmic gifts and
a love for rich effects of sound and colour. He has attempted
the drama with considerable success, taking for his theme the
fall of the Roman Republic. In Bosnia Tugomir Alaupovic
213 Since 1907 member of the Austrian Reichsrath for his native
island of Lesina (with Brazza).
i3«
CROAT NOVELISTS
(born 1873) has attracted attention by his pessimistic verse.
The revival of Croatian poetry was followed by the appear-
ance of a number of prosewriters, who compare favourably
with those of most smaller European nations. Their leader,
August Senoa (i 838-1 881) may not unfairly be described
as the Scott of Croatia, his historical novels illustrating
with great force the romantic vicissitudes of his country's
history. The Goldsmith's Daughter, The Peasant's War, Be-
ware of Zengg, and many others reveal Senoa as a born story-
teller, whose complete mastery of plot and description rivets
the attention of the reader and assures him a high and enduring
place among modern novelists. A shorter story entitled The
Flower from the Poet's Grave (Karamfil sa pjesnikova groba) is
a charming love idyll skilfully contrived to honour the memory
of the Slovene poet Preseren ; the charming style and breezy
atmosphere of this little book would of themselves suffice to
win him a niche in Croat literature. Unhappily an early death
carried him off at the very height of his activity.
An equally prolific novelist was Joseph Tomic (1843-1906),
whose chief works are The Dragon of Bosnia and For King and
Home, and who completed Genoa's unfinished novel The Curse.
In the eighties French naturalism found its way into Croatia ;
its first notable exponent was Eugene Kumicic (1850-1904),
who after publishing a number of novels of almost Zolaesque
brutality, reverted in his later years to the historical romance
{The Conspiracy and Zrinski and Frankopan). Ljubomir
Babic-Gjalski (born 1854), whose novels have been translated
into several languages, is in certain respects the Paul Bourget of
Croatia. His love of psychological problems shows to best
advantage in his short stories, which are full of French influ-
ence, despite their national character [Janko Borislavic,
Dawn, Mors, Radmilovic). Other favourite writers are the
satirist A. Kovacic, Joseph Kozarac (born 1858) {Dead Capital,
Three Loves) and the realist Janko Leskovar {Ruined Courts).
As was to be expected, the influence of the modern Russian
novel is strong and increasing among the Croats. ^^"^
Unlike the Croats and the Bulgars, among whom Ivan Vazov
(born 1850) ranks very high as a story-teller, the Serbs are
weak in fiction. Their only novelist of importance is Laza
21* An excellent idea of the modern Croatian novel can be obtained
from a collection of stories by various authors {Hrvatski Pripovjedaci,
Zagreb, 1908) well edited by the rising dramatist, Milan Ogrizovic.
139
CROAT AND SERB LITERATURE
Lazarevic, who as a country doctor acquired an intimate know-
ledge of the patriarchal peasant life which still prevails in
Servia, and depicted it in a number of admirable short stories,
A new period is about to open in Serbo-Croat literature.
The absurd cleavage which owes its origin to the misfortune of
a dual alphabet, and which has been fostered by unfavourable
political conditions, is becoming more unreal with every year.
A growing perception of the essential unity of race and lan-
guage is spreading among Croat and Serb alike, and the old
barriers of provincialism and prejudice are slowly yielding to
a wider outlook upon life.
Note upon Croatian Music and Art
The Croats have a music of their own, which though it cannot com-
pare with that of Bohemia, is not without charm and originality. The
first composer of real merit was Vatroslav Lisinski (1819-1846), who
harmonized many of the most popular folksongs, and wrote, in
addition to choral music, two important operas, Porin and Ljubov i
zloba (Love and Spite). The most prolific and at the same time the
most popular Croat composer was Ivan Zajc (1834-1906), who in 1874
became Director of the Croatian Opera in Agram. His best known
operas are Nicholas Zrinski, Lizinka, Zlatka, Man the Decks ; but his
choral compositions are quite as attractive (e.g. Evening on the Save).
Franjo Kuhac (b. 1834) deserves mention as an untiring collector of
Southern Slav and Balkan folksongs and dances. In recent years Felix
Albini, a Croat with Italian name, has won popularity by the charming
operetta Baron Trenck, which was well received abroad. In the summer
of 1 911 it appeared in London in a very mangled form, charmingly
staged, but with the characteristic national songs and dances either
omitted or consigned to the background.
The fine opera house and theatre — probably the finest in Europe
for a town of Agram's size — was completed in 1896, and is the focus of
Serbo-Croat music and drama.
In curious contrast to Croatia, the Dalmatian Croats and the Serbs
are the least musical of the Slav races. Their national instrument,
the gusla, creates an atmosphere of its own, peculiarly suited to the
recitative of peasant bards ; but though impressive, it is in no sense
musical. An exception must be made in favour of the Serb Kolo, one
of the most fascinating dances in Europe.
Croatian Art is older than is generally realized abroad. Carpaccio
and Schiavone, and Michelangelo's pupil, the miniature painter
Clovio, were Croats by birth, though of course their genius was entirely
merged in the Italian schools of art. The first names on the
roll of modern Croat artists are two Dalmatians — Vlaho Bukovac (b.
1855) and Celestine Medovic (b. 1851), both of whom have won recog-
nition in Paris and elsewhere abroad. Another Dalmatian, Ivan
Rendic, and Robert Franges, are popular sculptors, the former being
best known for his sepulchral monuments. For many years Bukovac
occupied a dominant position in Art at Agram ; and a number of
140
ART AND MUSIC
promising pupils owe much to his influence, without adhering at all
closely to his ideas — e.g., Ivan Tisov (decorative frescoes), Ferd. Kova-
£evic, Robert Auer (nude studies), Ivekovic, Crncic (charming landscapes
of the Adriatic coast), Racki (remarkable Dantesque studies). The annual
exhibitions in the Art Salon of Agram are quite worthy of attention.
A small group of able artists has established itself at Spalato in Dalmatia
(Vidovic, Katunaric, Meneghello) and publishes a comic illustrated
paper Duje Balavac. The most remarkable figure in modern Croat art
is the young Dalmatian sculptor, Ivan Mestrovic, who bids fair to
become the Rodin of the Southern Slav world. His wonderful series
of figures for a Southern Slav Valhalla, has been recognized by the
Italian Press as one of the chief features of the Art Section at this
year's Exhibition in Rome.
141
CHAPTER VIII
The Resolution of Fiume and its
Consequences (1905-1908)
THE Hungarian crisis, which was directly responsible for
Count Khuen Hedervary's resignation as Ban, now
began to influence very materially the course of events in Croa-
tia. Even under Baron Banffy's premiership (1898) the Party
of Independence, which led the Opposition in the Hungarian
Parliament, had indulged in obstructive tactics and provoked
a so-called Ex-Lex condition in Hungary by preventing the
passing of the Budget. As personal motives played an im-
portant part in the struggle, the substitution of Mr. Coloman
Szell for Baron Banffy restored peace for some years. But
in 1902 Szell's proposals for an increase in the number of
recruits led to a fresh outburst of obstruction, more violent
than any which had gone before. The year 1903 saw a renewal
of the ex-lex condition. For six months obstruction was ram-
pant, and at length Szell, disappointed in his belief that the
Opposition would " talk itself quiet," saw no alternative but
to resign office. Count Khuen Hedervary, on succeeding to
the premiership, made a provisional arrangement with the
Opposition ; but within a few weeks the truce was broken, and
the implication of his friend. Count Ladislas Szapary, then
Governor of Fiume, in a sordid case of political bribery, ren-
dered the new Premier's position untenable and led to his
resignation (August 10, 1903). Meanwhile the demands
put forward by the Party of Independence for ultra-Magyar
" national " concessions in the Army, had thoroughly alarmed
the dynasty, and were met on September 16 — while the Khuen
Cabinet was still conducting affairs, pending the appointment
of a successor — by the famous Army order of Chlopy,^^^ in
which His Majesty roundly declared that he would never sur-
render the military powers which the constitution of the Dual
Monarchy assured to him. The excitement aroused in Hun-
'^^ So-called from the small Bohemian village at which the Emperor
dated the Order during the autumn manoeuvres of 1903.
142
THE HUNGARIAN COALITION
gary by this emphatic document spurred on the Opposition
to fresh obstruction, and the new Cabinet, which was formed
in November, 1903, by Count Stephen Tisza, soon found itself
obHged to attempt a revision of the Standing Orders of the
House, as the sole means of checking parliamentary anarchy.
It was not, however, till October, 1904, that Tisza proceeded
in earnest to this revision ; but when his proposals were at
length laid before the House, the Opposition attempted to
make discussion impossible. On November 17, 1904, a motion
for holding two sittings daily was carried by a bare majority,
and Count Albert Apponyi, speaking in the name of the whole
Opposition, declined to respect this decision of the House.
This parliamentary revolution was followed next day by a
counter-revolution of the majority, the motion for reform
being passed on an improvised vote.
Parliament was at once prorogued, and when it met again on
December 13, the Opposition wrecked the House and rendered all
debate impossible. At this critical moment Count Tisza, who had
frankly admitted the illegality of the means adopted to secure
reform, but had sought to justify them on the plea of necessity
and raison d'etat, now suddenly reverted to the strict constitu-
tional view and appealed to the country. The general elections
of January, 1905, resulted in the overthrow of the Liberal Party,
which had ruled Hungary since 1876. The Party of Indepen-
dence secured 166 seats,the minor Opposition groups 72, ^^^ and the
Liberals only 159 ; Count Tisza was therefore faced by a hostile
Coalition^i' of 231 deputies, and placed his resignation in the
King's hands. For some months negotiations were conducted
between the Crown and the Coalition, but as the latter per-
sisted in dictating terms for the acceptance of office while the
former sought to curtail the programme of his future ministers,
no agreement could be reached, and on June 19, 1905, Baron
Geza Fejervary, an old soldier who had held the portfolio of
National Defence in several Liberal cabinets, was appointed
^'^ The so-called Dissidents 27 ; the People's Party (Clerical) 25 ;
the New Party 13. There were also 10 Nationalists, 2 Democrats,
2 Socialists and 10 non-party.
^" In November, 1904, after the parliamentary coup d'etat the four
Opposition groups — the Party of Independence under Mr. Francis
Kossuth and Count Albert Apponyi, the Dissidents or Constitutional
Party under Count Julius Andrassy, the People's Party under Count
Aladar Zichy, and the New Party under Baron Desiderius Banfiy
formed themselves into the since famous Coalition.
143
THE RESOLUTION OF FIUME
Premier with a number of little known permanent officials as
his ministers. The new Cabinet, being without a majority in
Parliament, could only govern by repeated prorogations, and
the political situation remained obscure and precarious.
This brief outline of the course of events in Hungary sup-
plies the clue to the political transformation in Croatia which
took place under Count Theodore Pejacevic. The decay of
the Liberal party in Hungary was accompanied by a corre-
sponding decay of its ally the " National " party in Croatia.
Their principles, or rather their lack of principles, were similar,
and so also were the methods which they employed. In each
country successive governments found that an Opposition,
tied to a programme so extreme as to be utterly impracticable,
was often convenient rather than embarrassing, since it could
be used by the authorities in Agram and Budapest against
Budapest and Vienna respectively. In Croatia a skilful policy
of playing off rival races and party factions against each other
and of enforcing a strict political discipline upon every rank
of officialdom, had resulted in a prolonged period of stagna-
tion ; but the withdrawal of Count Khuen released forces
which had till then been pent up, and the seething cauldron
at once emitted steam.
The younger generation in Croatia showed a marked revul-
sion of feeling in favour of Serbo-Croat friendship, and this
tendency was powerfully supported by public opinion in Dal-
matia. Mr. Supilo's organ, Novi List, which had already won
the ear of Croatian patriots by its onslaughts upon Khuen at
a time when the press of Agram was effectively muzzled ^i^ —
a Dalmatian leader once not inaptly described it to me as
" a dumping place for all new and modern ideas " — now
became the chief champion in the press of the idea of Croato-Serb
unity. After preparing the ground for some months with great
'>' Novi List^ being published in Fiume, is subject to the Hungarian
Press law which, however susceptible of reactionary interpretation,
is at any rate infinitely more liberal than the Croatian press law. Mr.
Supilo had originally been editor of Crvena Hrvatska, a small weekly
newspaper published at Ragusa in the interests of the Party of Right.
In 1900 he left Ragusa for Susak, where he founded a daily paper
called Nasa Sloga. Its main idea was opposition to the Khuen regime,
its owners being Ruzic, Erasmus Barcic and other wealthy Croats in
and around Fiume. In order to evade the muzzling to which Count
Khuen subjected the Croatian press, the paper was transferred to Fiume
and re-christened Novi List. It soon became the leader of the Oppo-
sition Press.
144
ALLIANCE WITH THE MAGYARS
skill and caution, it then began to blend the idea of unity with
attacks upon Austria and the Viennese " Camarilla," and to
prepare the way for a modus vivendi with the Magyars. The
Dalmatian leaders, who represented the real driving force
in this new movement, were far-sighted enough to realize the
advantages which Croatia might reap from Magyar party
dissensions. Disillusioned and alienated by the rebuff which
they had received in Vienna, and interpreting it in the light
of a century of past history, they drew the conclusion that no
help was to be expected from Austria, who would at the last
moment give way to the Magyars, as she had invariably done
at every crisis of the past fifty years.^^^ \A^ith a strange mix-
ture of naivete and ' slimness,' of lofty idealism and political
cjmicism, they dreamt of a Southern Slav millennium, as the
direct consequence of their alliance with the Magyars, and
flattered themselves that they could beat that race of bom
politicians at its own game. Better at any rate, they argued,
to help the Magyars at their need, and thus win the right to
share the spoils of victory, than to commit themselves on the
side of Austria and then to be left a prey to the incensed Mag-
yars,^^° under circumstances even more unfavourable to Croatia
than those of the years 1867, 1883 and 1903.
Mr. Supilo and his friends realized clearly that they need
expect nothing from the Liberal party, already on its death-
bed, and that the " National " party in Croatia was so closely
linked with the Liberals and so impervious to new ideas that
the enterprise must be undertaken without its help ; they
therefore devoted their attention to the Magyar Opposition
parties, whom they knew to be eagerly searching on all sides
(both at home and abroad) for allies in their struggle against
Vienna. Meanwhile in order to prepare public opinion lor so
striking a change of tactics, they publicly mooted in Dalmatia
2i» About this time a mischievous legend found its way from mouth
to mouth and found wide belief among the credulous Southern Slavs —
to the effect that the Emperor, in conversation with a distinguished
General, had remarked, Die Kroaten — das sindFetzen. This phrase has
been more than once quoted to me by men of standing in Dalmatia and
Croatia, where the belief that the Dynasty is anti-Croat has unhappily
been widespread since the rejected audience. Though there is no
ground for this story, I think it well to refer to it, for, there can be no
doubt that it has found credence and helps to explain the revulsion of
Croat feeling in favour of the Magyars.
^^^ Cf. the argumentation in Kroatien und dessen Beziehungen zu
Bosnien (p. 87) by a deputy of the Croato-Serb Coalition.
S.S.Q. 145 L
THE RESOLUTION OF FIUME
during the summer of 1905 the idea of a conference to be
attended by all the Croat deputies in the Viennese Reichsrath
and in the Croatian Diet.
Its ostensible aim was to consider the steps necessary to
secure the union of Dalmatia with Croatia under the Crown
of St. Stephen ; but the tacit design of its organizers was to
frame a programme such as would be acceptable to the Magyar
Opposition as the basis of a working agreement. A prelim-
inary meeting of twenty-four deputies was held at Ragusa
on August 14, and Fiume was fixed upon as the place of the
conference. As had been anticipated, the National party
declined the invitation to attend and Dr. Frank's party also
adopted a hostile attitude, partly owing to personal reasons,
partly from religious fanaticism and hostility to the Serbs, but
also because despite many shortcomings its leader, alone of all
Croatian politicians, had realized the vital need of friendly
relations with Austria, and had too clear a grasp of the inter-
national situation to be seduced into dubious adventures by
the heroes of the Budapest Coalition. Meanwhile the Serb
parties preserved a friendly neutrality, and resolved to await
the issue of the conference before committing themselves to
any public expression of opinion.
On October 2, 1905, forty Croat deputies from Croatia,
Dalmatia and Istria met at Fiume. A preliminary motion
greeting with sympathy the struggle of the Hungarian nation
for its rights, and betraying an anti- Austrian tendency, was
put forward by Professor Vrbanic, the well-known Constitu-
tional writer. After a debate lasting several days in which
almost all the Dalmatian leaders took part. Dr. Antony Trum-
bic who had been till recently Mayor of Spalato and enjoyed a
wide popularity in Dalmatia, submitted a resolution from his
own pen, containing a definite statement of policy. A small
minority favoured a declaration of a much more general char-
acter and the appointment of a special committee to " sound "
official opinion both in Austria and in Hungary before com-
mitting themselves to a new policy. The great majority,
however, was anxious to commit itself openly to the new
policy, and on October 4 the famous Resolution of Fiume was
adopted, almost unaltered. A sub-committee consisting of
Dr. Pero Cingrija,^" Dr. Trumbic, Vicko Milic,^^^ Harambasic
221 Mayor of Ragusa and one of the most distinguished Croat politi-
cians in Dalmatia.
^^22 Till his death, in 1910, President of the Croat party in Dalmatia.
146
A NEW POLICY
and Father Zagorac,^^^ was appointed to carry out the ideas
which it embodied.2^^
The Resolution of Fiume lays down as a general political
axiom the view that " every nation has the right to decide
freely and independently concerning its existence and its fate,"
interprets the Hungarian crisis as an attempt to carry this
axiom into practice, and affirms it to be the duty and interest
of the Croats " to fight side by side with the Hungarian nation
for the fulfilment of its constitutional rights and liberties."
The price of Croatian support is then defined as twofold — on
the one hand the re-incorporation of Dalmatia, which, it might
be presumed, would be equally attractive to Magyar and to
Croat, and on the other a radical change in " the present intoler-
able conditions " in Croatia. The reforms necessary to such
a change were summed up as follows : Electoral reform and
freedom of elections ; complete freedom of the press ; right
of assembly and association ; judicial independence, and irremov-
ability of judges, and the formation of special courts to protect
the citizen against political tyranny, and to punish arbitrary
officials. The compromise of 1868 is to remain the basis of the
relations between the Hungarian and Croatian nations, but such
changes are to be made as shall assure to the latter an inde-
pendent development, alike in matters " political, cultural,
financial, and economic." In the opinion of Ohzor the im-
portance of the Resolution consists in defining the minimum
of Croatian national claims — in a word, the execution of the
compromise, its extension in an autonomous sense and the
re-incorporation of Dalmatia. Its real significance, however,
lies far deeper than any mere definition of claims. It marks
an entirely new departure in Southern Slav politics, the attain-
ment of its majority b}^ a young nation, the adoption for the
first time of an independent policy of construction. That this
2^2 Afterwards one of the most prominent members of the Croato-Serb
Coalition in Croatia {see pp. 255-8 for the part which he played at
the Friedjung Trial), he became discontented with its policy, seceded
early in 1909 and joined the so-called Dissident group of Dr. Mile
Starcevic, of which he is to-day the mainstay.
22* The real initiative had come from Dalmatia when Mr. V. Mili^,
the President of the Croatian party, had strongly backed the propagan-
da of a Magyar journalist, Dr. Rudolf Havas, for the Union of Dalmatia
with Hungary. In 1903 the Magyar Deputy, Paul Hoitsy, had pub-
lished a pamphlet in favour of " Greater Hungary " — a league of Mag-
yars, Roumanians, Serbo-Croats and Greeks, such as would close the
gates of the Balkans to Russian aggression.
147
THE RESOLUTION OF FIUME
policy was based upon a radical misconception of their allies'
character and honesty of purpose, does not really detract from
the boldness of its design or from the energy and skill with
which it was initiated and carried through. It can only be
understood as a reaction against long years of neglect and deser-
tion on the part of Vienna, ending in the crowning indignity
of the rejected audience. Under such circumstances, the hope
that the Magyars would, if only in their own interests, adopt
a more generous and statesmanlike attitude, was as natural
as it was to prove unfounded. Better, it was argued, endeavour
to make terms with Budapest direct than to rely upon Vien-
nese support in the struggle against Budapest and then invari-
ably be left to pay the piper.
The newly appointed committee at once proceeded to Agram,
where negotiations were opened with delegates from the Serb
Independent, the Serb Radical, and the Peasant parties ; the
two former assented to the new policy, but Mr. Stephen Radic,
the leader of the Peasant party, offended by the anti-Austrian
tinge of the proceedings, entered a strong protest and withdrew.
Meanwhile a majority of the Dalmatian members of the
Reichsrat also defended the Austrophil standpoint and de-
clined to sign the Resolution ; but this did not deter the pro-
moters of the movement from despatching a telegram to Mr.
Francis Kossuth, as president of the Hungarian Party of
Independence and announcing the success of the Resolution,
"despite the efforts of agents of the Viennese Camarilla." The
publication of this telegram aroused considerable indignation,
but its contents were quite eclipsed by Mr. Kossuth's reply,
which ran as follows : " We greet our Croatian and Dalmatian
brothers and remind the Croats that we have always shared
with them the rights which we had won for ourselves, and that
on the contrary they have always been oppressed by Austria.
May God bring back Dalmatia through Croatia to the Crown of
St. Stephen ! We await you in love and full hope. Francis
Kossuth." ^^^ For plain speaking this left nothing to be desired,
and it is hardly surprising that such language in the mouth
of a man who aspired to the rank of Hungarian Premier,
inspired alarm and resentment, not merely at the Ballplatz,
but also in the Hofburg.
Kossuth's telegram led to direct negotiations between Supilo
^-^ Milic, Posianak, p. i6. As one of the Resolutionist leaders said
to me, " We were naive enough in those days to regard Francis Kossuth
as a real Kossuthist."
148
THE RESOLUTION OF ZARA
and Trumbic on the one hand and prominent members of the
Hungarian Coahtion on the other. The importance which
the Magyar Opposition assigned to the negotiations is shown
by the fact that no fewer than five future members of the
Wekerle Cabinet sat in the committee which the Hungarian
Coalition deputed to meet the Croat leaders,--^
Kossuth himself, writing in his own press organ Budapest
on October 15, pled the cause of Magyar-Croat friendship,
and argued that the deeds of violence which had made the
Magyar name detested in Croatia during the past twenty years
had been committed by the instruments of the Ban, without
the approval of the Hungarian nation, and in accordance
with the Camarilla's wishes. Almost at the same time Mr.
Supilo's newspaper published a declaration in the name of the
executive Committee of the Hungarian Coalition, solemnly
pledging its leaders to concede the Croat language of command
at the moment the Magyar language of command shall have
been secured for Hungary, and in return for this stipulating
for Croatian support in the struggle against Austria.
On October 16, twenty-six Serb deputies met at Zara, ex-
pressed their agreement with the principles embodied in the
Resolution of Eiume and publicly declared themselves in favour
of joint political action between Croats and Serbs, in the in-
terest of their common Fatherland. The Resolutions of Fiume
and Zara mark the beginning of a new era in Southern Slav
politics. Henceforth the old rivalry of Croat and Serb is on
the wane, and with each succeeding year fresh recruits have
been won for the doctrine that " Croats and Serbs are one
nation by blood and language."
During the winter of 1905 the various Opposition parties of
Croatia — ^with the exception of Dr. Frank's adherents and
the tiny group of the Peasants' Party, under Stephen and
226 These five were Count Albert Apponyi (afterwards IVIinister of
Education), Count Julius Andrassy (Minister of the Interior and framer
of the notorious abortive Franchise Reform Bill of November, 1908),
Baron Banffy (the Chauvinist ex-premier and leader of the short-lived
New Party), Mr. Geza Polonyi (Minister of Justice until driven from
of&ce in February, 1907, by the scandalous revelations of Mr. Lengyel
and a certain Baroness Schonberger) , Count Theodore Batthyany (a
prominent Independent and to-day Vice-President of the Justh party),
and Count Zichy (leader of the People's party and Minister a latere).
Mr. Francis Kossuth (afterwards Minister of Commerce and author of
the notorious Railway Bill which led to the rupture between
Hungary and Croatia in the summer of 1907) was President of the
Committee.
THE RESOLUTION OF FIUME
Antony Radi6 — organized themselves, as the Croato-Serb
Coahtion, and conducted an active anti-governmental cam-
paign on parallel lines with their allies, the Hungarian Coalition.
The leaders of the " National party " in Croatia were not
slow to realize the importance of the new movement. Ultra-
clerical circles looked with disfavour upon the recon-
ciliation of Catholic Croat and Orthodox Serb, and still more
upon the progressive elements to whose influence it was so
largely due ; and it was an easy task to persuade the Clericals
of Vienna, and even higher personages, that the national evolu-
tion of a disunited race was in reality a dangerous conspiracy
against the Monarchy and the Habsburg Dynasty. This view
was rendered plausible by the distinct anti-Austrian tinge
which Croat opinion had assumed since the deputation's fiasco
in 1903, and by the open language employed by Mr. Supilo
in discussing the dangers of the Drang nach Osten. The Austro-
Hungarian Foreign Office, with that strange blend of boundless
credulity and childish suspicion which characterizes those who
rely for their information upon the methods of the Police State,
lent a willing ear to the denunciations of party fanatics and
to the inventions of spies, informers and agents provocateurs —
a'class of reptile which Turkish misrule and the rival intrigues
of Austria and Russia have bred in large numbers throughout
the Balkans and the adjoining provinces. Subsequent indis-
cretions revealed a confidential circular issued by the Ban
of Croatia, by order of the Foreign Office, to the High Sheriff
of every county, and requesting them to place certain pro-
minent individuals in Agram and other towns under secret
observation, to tamper with their correspondence with certain
Croat and Serb leaders in Dalmatia and Bosnia, and to sub-
mit detailed reports of the results of their inquiries. The
ostensible cause for such action was the alleged formation of a
Bosnian Committee for smuggling weapons and seditious
literature into Bosnia and thus provoking a general rising ^^'^ ;
but the real aim was to obtain insight into the plans of the
Opposition leaders and, if possible, sow discord between the
allied Coalitions.^^^
22' The absurdity of this story may be gathered from the fact that
Professor Cvijic, the well-known; geographer and Rector of Belgrade
University, is described as president of the insurrectionary committee.
228 Karl Hron in Die Wahrheit liber die Wiener Orientpolitik (p. 49)
maintains that the orders for the arrest of the alleged conspirators had
already been signed; and that execution was only delayed.
150
THE COALITION MINISTRY
It may be that the BaUplatz was already preparing the cam-
paign of forgery and intrigue which was to prepare the way to
annexation, and that Baron Aehrenthal merely took over
instead of initiating the " policy " which has since then come
to be associated with the lofty names of Nastic and Vasic. Be
this as it may, the sudden political transformation which took
place in Hungary in the spring of 1906 brought the suspects
into power and rendered such intrigues temporarily impossible.
On February 14, 1906, the gorgeous Chamber on the Buda-
pest embankment had been surrounded by troops, and a
colonel of militia had read the decree of dissolution to an
empty House. No date had been assigned for the new elec-
tions, and the Opposition had foretold a whirlwind of indig-
nation throughout the country, as a response to these wanton
insults to the Constitution. But the country remained quiet
and indifferent ; the Government, having over-trumped the
Coalition by making Universal Suffrage the main point of its
programme, could afford to despise the latter's patriotic phrases
and appeals to " State Right." The working classes and the
nationalities — in a word a majority of the nation, though a
minority of the electorate — favoured the " unconstitutional "
government of Baron Fejervary. The Coalition saw power
shpping from its hands, and at the eleventh hour capitulated
to the Crown, accepting a " compact " which has since become
public and which shelved all the questions which had evoked
the crisis, until a radical measure of electoral reform could be
adopted. It is difficult to believe that the Coalition leaders ever
intended to fulfil their pledge of reform ; for when once normal
conditions had been restored they devoted themselves to pass-
ing law after law of the most reactionary nature,^^^ and allowed
two years and a half to elapse without even laying a franchise
bill before Parliament.
The appointment of the CoaHtion Cabinet, under Dr. Wekerle
as Premier, was followed by general elections both in Hungary
and in Croatia. In the former country the old Liberal party
disappeared altogether, its leader. Count Tisza, withdrew
from political life, and the Coalition parties divided the
to say, though no arrests were made the rising never took place on the
day mentioned in the document.
229 E.g., Count Apponyi's notorious Education Acts {see detailed
analysis in my Racial Problems in Hungary, pp. 227-233) and Mr. Da-
ranyis' Agricultural Labourers' Act {see Times, September 25, 1907).
151
THE RESOLUTION OF FIUME
parliamentary spoils between themselves,^^** the little group
of twenty-five non-Magyar deputies forming the only opposi-
tion in the House. In Croatia, for the first time for a genera-
tion, the Government was not in a position to exercise political
pressure upon the elections ; and as a natural result, the
National Party suffered a decisive reverse, losing all but
twenty-one seats. The Croato-Serb Coalition, or Resolutionists,
as they were at first called, obtained a relative majority of
forty-three seats,^^^ while twenty fell to the Starcevic Party.
It would be absurd to pretend that the Resolution of Fiume
awakened any enthusiasm among the Croatian electors ; the
success of the Coalition was won not by reason of it, but
despite it, and was due to the deep relief and satisfaction which
had greeted the entente between Croat and Serb.
The result of the elections sealed the bargain which the
Croatian leaders had concluded with Mr. Kossuth and his
friends. The new Croatian Government was formed out of
members of the Coalition while a special arrangement retained
Count Theodore Pejacevic in his position as Ban, aloof from all
party connexions. The Croato-Serb Coalition, not possessing
an absolute majority in the Sabor, found itself too weak to
adopt an active policy, and was seriously hampered during
the winter of 1906 by the obstruction of the Starcevic Party
under Dr. Frank, furious at the increased influence which the
Resolution of Fiume had secured to the Serbs, and still more
at the revival of friendship between Agram and Budapest.
Thus in a year of government the Coalition practically
achieved nothing ; of all the wide programme of reform con-
tained in the Resolution of Fiume a law guaranteeing the inde-
pendence of judges was the solitary fruit, and even this was
still awaiting the royal sanction, when a grave crisis arose in
the relations of Croatia and Hungary.
In May, 1907, Mr. Francis Kossuth laid before the joint
Parliament in Budapest a new railway bill regulating the
status of the railway officials, in which Magyar is expressly
declared to be the official language of the entire railway system
of Transleithania, and thus of Croatia also. This was resented
by the Croats as a clear violation of the Hungaro-Croatian
Compromise of 1868, § 9 of which declares the railway system
230 ]sro fewer than 189 seats (or 45-7 per cent.) were left uncontested.
231 Croatian Party of Right, 19 ; Independent Serb Party, 16 ;
Progressive Party, 3 ; Autonomous Club, 3 ; Serb Radicals, 3 ;
Non-Party, 4.
152
MR. KOSSUTH'S RAILWAY BILL
to be one of the affairs common to the two countries, while
§57 prescribes Croatian as the official language for all organs
of the joint government within the borders of Croatia-Slavonia
and hence also for the railways.
The Magyar contention was that in practice the Magyar
language had always been employed on all the railways, and
that the new law was not guilty of any innovation. To this
the Croats rejoined that an abuse which had long been reluc-
tantly tolerated was greatly aggravated by the grant of legal
sanction, that the law recognized the rights of the Croatian
language, and that no modification of any kind could be made
in the Compromise, save by consent of two specially convoked
deputations of the Hungarian and Croatian legislative assem-
blies. Although the quarrel would seem to have arisen over
a very ordinary measure for the regulation of traffic, the most
far-reaching constitutional questions between Hungary and
Croatia were involved.
Chauvinist feeling in Hungary which ran riot under the
Coalition regime, insisted upon regarding Croatia as an integral
part of the Kingdom of Hungary, and her autonomy as the
outcome of generous concessions from Budapest, and not of a
solemn contract between two equals. From this it of course
followed that the language of the Hungarian state was entitled
to a special position even on Croatian territory. In other
words, the legal recognition of the Magyar language on the
railways of Croatia was but the first step in the Magyarization
of Croatia, at which the exaltados of the Hungarian Coalition
aimed. The extreme importance to Hungary of the railway
line from Agram to Fiume and the designs entertained by the
Magyars for bringing the Coalition coastline under their imme-
diate control, no doubt help to explain why the conflict broke
out on this point, and why the Croats resisted so stoutly.
But there is good reason to believe that the Magyar Govern-
ment wished to pick a quarrel with the Croats, and that if the
latter had tamely submitted to one violation of the Compro-
mise, they would soon have been confronted with another.
Nor is it improbable that the Foreign Office had some share in
this result. Even at this date the annexation of Bosnia-Herze-
govina was in contemplation, and the existence of a Pan-Serb
conspiracy in those provinces had become an idee fixe in the
official mind. Whether the idea of establishing a connexion
between Bosnian intrigue and the political leaders of Croatia,
first came from Budapest or from Vienna, it is not easy to
153
THE RESOLUTION OF FIUME
determine. But the strategic convenience of having an abso-
lutist regime in Croatia at a time of complications with
Servia such as might be evoked by the annexation seems
to have already commended itself in influential quarters.
Clerical and military interests were strangely intermingled ;
some highly placed officers being guided almost equally by
strategic considerations and by the desire to overthrow the
Croato-Serb Coalition, as a refuge of anti-clerical influences.
From the very first the Croato-Serb Coalition vehemently
opposed Mr. Kossuth's illegal innovation ; and as all redress was
uncompromisingly refused, its delegates in the Joint Parlia-
ment of Budapest resorted to obstruction of the sharpest and
most effectual kind. For the first time since 1868 full use
was made of the paragraph of the Compromise (§ 59) which
entitled the Croatian delegates to speak in Croatian. Inter-
minable Croatian speeches were delivered, minute points of
order were raised and every advantage was taken of the some-
what complicated and obsolete Standing Orders. As hardly
any of the Magyar members understood a word of Croatian,
and as even the President and the Vice-President, from ignor-
ance of the language, were unable to enforce a proper control
of the proceedings, it can easily be imagined that the
tactics of the Croats infuriated Magyar public opinion and
made it less than ever disposed to compromise. After
parliamentary business had been at a standstill for a whole
month, Mr. Kossuth introduced a Bill consisting of a single
sentence — which deserves immortality, if only for its gram-
matical construction — and empowering the Ministry of Com-
merce to enforce the provisions of the obstructed bill until such
time as it should have received full parliamentary sanction !
The Croato-Serb Coalition, beaten though it was, consoled
itself with the thought that it had won for itself in Europe a
notoriety equal to that of Mr. Parnell and his friends in 1881,
and that its bold resistance to Magyar aggression had won for
it great popularity among the electorate of Croatia. On
June 25, Count Pejacevic, having identified himself with the
attitude of the majority, sent in his resignation, and was suc-
ceeded as Ban by Dr. Alexander Rakodczay, who had for
some yesar past occupied the position of President of the
Supreme Court of Appeal in Agram.
As a Magyar by birth and a pronounced Unionist in sentiment,
Dr. Rakodczay completely failed to rally a party round him
or to allay in any way the general indignation. In the autumn
154
BARON PAUL RAUCH
session at Budapest the Premier, Dr. Wekerle, threw out dark
hints of treason and unrest and warned the Croats of the dire
results to which their obstinacy might lead, if they dared to
look across the frontier for their political guidance. ^^^ This
hint of renewed intrigues between Agram and Vienna was
occasioned by the interest which the Christian Socialist party
displayed in Croatia. But this interest being unhappily
identified with narrow clerical influences, did not lead to any
positive result.
The Croato-Serb Coalition remained firm in its opposition
to the new Ban, and was even taking steps for his impeachment
when the Saborwas dissolved and new elections ordered. Dr.
Rakodczay's methods proved too moderate — and many would
add, too scrupulous — for his masters in Budapest, and, with
the best will in the world, he had entirely failed to win
any support, save from the small group of discredited
Magyarones, who alone survived from the old National party.
He was therefore thrown overboard after the electoral
campaign had already begun, and his place was filled by Baron
Paul Ranch, son of the Ban who had guided the Compromise
of 1868 through the Croatian Sabor (January 6, igo8). From
the very first Baron Ranch attempted to rule the country with
a rod of iron, but during his two years of office anarchy and
absolutism went hand in hand, and each fresh act of the Ban
merely served to increase the detestation in which he and his
taskmasters at Budapest were held. In the first place he failed
to realize that the days of Count Khuen were over, and that
no human power can force a grown man into the strait jacket
which was made to fit a child.^^^ Besides, what was equally
important, he was as incapable and unbalanced as Count
Khuen Hedervary had been adroit and masterly. Hitherto
his name had been associated with two clumsy onslaughts
upon Count Khuen, conceived with the transparent object
of superseding him as Ban, but ending in his complete
discomfiture. 234 It is only fair to the Hungarian Premier,
^^^ See e.g. his speech on November 9, 1907.
*33 A high Bosnian ofi&cial (one who is anything but anti-Magyar)
in conversation with a friend of mine, once characterized the Khuen
regime in Croatia as a " strait jacket," from which the prisoner was
released under his successor, and added that no power on earth, not
even Khuen himself, could ever succeed in forcing the victim's body
into it once more.
234 In 1892 he had compared Khuen to Tanlongo.the Director of the
Banca Romana, but withdrew and apologized. His second attack was
155
THE RESOLUTION OF FIUME
Dr. Wekerle, to add that he was from the first sceptical
as to Ranch's fitness for the post, but that the latter en-
joyed the support of high clerical and military circles to
whom Dr. Wekerle thought it expedient to defer. Within a
few days of his appointment, even before he had arrived in
Agram, Baron Ranch contrived to alienate the only political
group upon whose open support he could count, by a reference,
all the more offensive because of its truth, to " exhuming the
mummies of the National party." 235
Baron Ranch's arrival at Agram (January 15) was made the
occasion of hostile demonstrations from a large crowd, and he was
greeted with a shower of rotten eggs in the streets on his way
to the Banal Palace. He was not slow to revenge himself by
publicly insinuating that the Coalition was guilty of " anti-
dynastic and treasonable " tendencies ; and when Father
Zagorac as publicly demanded the proofs of his assertion, 23«
he remained silent.
Meanwhile every effort was made by Ranch's Government
to influence the course of the elections. The voting registers
were tampered with ; pressure was brought to bear upon the
officials ; troops were called in ostensibly to preserve order
but in reality to hamper the Opposition in its exercise of the
franchise. The officials were reminded from headquarters
that an old decree from the Absolutist regime of Alexander
Bach (1855) enjoining upon the officials political subservience
was still in force, and that the law of 1907 dealing with elec-
toral purity did not entitle officials to vote for Opposition candi-
dates ! Yet, little as electoral freedom was respected, Ranch's
action ended in a complete fiasco. The Elections of February
28 resulted in a decisive victory of the Croato-Serb Coalition,
which secured fifty-seven 2^' out of eighty-eight seats, while
twenty-four fell to the Party of Pure Right under Dr. Frank.
For the first time the Croatian officials defied the pressure
of the Government, and at the last moment the Unionist Ban
was reduced to issue an order to the officials to vote for candi-
on the occasion of a difference between Khuen and Banffy (then Hun-
garian Premier).
235 Vaterland, January 10, 1908, cit. Montbel, La Condition Politique
de la Croatie, p. 271.
236 In an open letter to the Hrvatska of January 21.
23^ Divided as follows : Croatian Party of Right, 26 ; Autonomist
Club (under Count Pejacevic), 8 ; Serb Independent Party, 19 ; Pro-
gressive Party, 4. There were also 2 Peasants Party, 2 Serb Radicals,
and 2 Non-party.
156
AN ELECTORAL FIASCO
dates of the Starcevic party against Coalition candidates,
in other words, to support the party whose programme denies
the legality of the connexion with Hungary which it was the
Ban's duty to uphold and defend. Not merely did all three
sectional chiefs lose their seats, but Baron Rauch failed to
secure the election of a single adherent !
Such an electoral result would be highly remarkable in
any country in Europe ; but, when it is remembered that
Croatia possessed the narrowest franchise in Europe — not
excepting even that of Hungary itself ^^ — the issue of
these elections may fairly be described as unique. Inci-
dentally they afforded a striking proof of the new Ban's
incapacity. It must have been obvious to the Hungarian
Cabinet that a Khuen Hedervary would have produced a
very different result ; and the fact that they retained Baron
Rauch in office and that Dr. Wekerle exerted himself in his
defence, goes some way towards proving that no great anxiety
prevailed at Budapest to restore harmony between the two
countries, and that a state of absolutism in Croatia would be
by no means unwelcome. As will become abundantly clear
at a later stage of the narrative, absolutism upon the southern
frontier of the monarchy formed an essential part of the schemes
which were already ripening to completion, and in which the
leading parts were assigned to Baron^^^ Aehrenthal, Dr. Wekerle
and Baron Rauch. The motives of the Hungarian Government
itself were threefold ; firstly, the boundless racial fanaticism
of its followers, which it felt equally unable and disinclined
to check ; secondly, the hope that compliance with the views
of Vienna might be rewarded by permission to evade its pledges
of electoral reform ; and thirdly, the desire to deprive the Croats
of all possibility of intervening in the negotiations for a renewal
of the Austro-Hungarian Commercial Ausgleich and thus to
escape from the necessity of consulting Croatian as well as
purely Hungarian economic interests, ^^^a it is notorious that
the fulfilment of the Kossuthist ideal — namely, the erection of
a Customs-union against Austria and of an independent Hun-
garian Bank — would have seriously endangered Croatian
interests ; and the stalwarts of the Independent Party felt
that as a rupture on this point was sooner or later inevitable,
23* See my Corruption and Reform in Hungary for a full account of
the Hungarian Franchise.
*3» Became Count in 1909. ^'sa See pp. 69-70.
157
THE RESOLUTION OF FIUME
it would be better to pick a quarrel at the time most con-
venient to themselves.
Dr. Joseph Frank in an interview with the Hungarian
Premier, which earned him much unmerited abuse in Croatia,
assured that astute statesman that twenty years of absolutism
under a Royal Commissioner would be required in order to
render possible the formation of a new Magyarone party in
Croatia.^^" The subsequent course of events has borne out
this opinion, and in the spring of 1911 a Magyarone majority
in the Sabor seems as far off as ever.
The new Diet was opened on March 12. Mr. Barcic ^^^ as
" Father of the House," occupied the President's chair, and in
a fiery speech urged the Diet " to stand firm like one man
against the oppressors beyond the Drave " (i.e. the Magyars).
" In this difficult moment," he added, " we must be united,
and must act as the Italians when they were struggling for
unity and chose as their motto ' Fuori gli Stranieri.' . . .
The Government, which has suffered such an electoral defeat,
will not resign, despite the will of the people. Hence we must
call out to the Ban, this lackey of the Magyars, ' Down with the
unworthy one ! Resign ! ' " The Star ce vie party provoked the
most scandalous uproar in the House, one of its most notorious
members, a certain Mr. Elegovic, howling down the Serb mem-
bers as "Wallach pigs," ^^^ and all vieing with each other in their
abuse of the Magyars and the Compromise. So hostile a recep-
tion boded ill for Baron Rauch's Parliamentary prospects,
and on March 14, the Sabor was prorogued indefinitely,
before it had even had time for the formal preliminaries
2*" See Dr. Frank's own version of the interview, in Pester Lloyd,
March i, igo8.
241 A veteran Garibaldian, the life-long champion of Flume's reunion
with Croatia, and now a member of the Croato-Serb Coalition and an
enthusiast for Croato-Serb unity.
2*2 The terms of abuse employed by this individual in the Croatian
Sabor during the years 1906-8 are probably a parliamentary record in
Europe (see e.g. his abuse of the Ban himself in the Sabor on 19 March,
19 10) ; but even they were eclipsed by a disgusting encounter be-
tween him and Mr. Stephen Radic, the leader of the Peasants' Party, in
April, 1910. It would be unpardonable on my part to reproduce the
scene. I must refer the reader to the Croatian press (e.g. Agramer
Taghlatt of that date). I was in Dalmatia at the time, and I cannot do
better than quote the terse comment of one of my Dalmatian friends,
a prominent Deputy. He simply quoted the well-known Austrian
proverb, " The Orient begins at Bruck on the Leitha " (the frontier
station between Austria and Hungary).
158
ABSOLUTISM IN CROATIA
of the session or for the election of delegates to the joint
Parliament. The Royal Rescript of prorogation was dated
March 3, and it was thus apparent that the Hungarian
authorities had had no intention of giving the new Diet a
fair trial, even if it should have shown itself less refractory
than it actually did. It is possible that Baron Ranch enter-
tained the idea of an immediate fresh appeal to the country,
but after so decisive a result this would have reduced the
representative principle to a mere farce, and was speedily
abandoned, if it was ever entertained.
Baron Ranch now threw off all pretence of constitutional
government, and for the next two years absolutism prevailed
in Croatia. Less than three years had elapsed since the Hun-
garian Coalition — then still in opposition — was filling Europe
with its passionate appeals against the alleged attempt of
Austria to introduce absolutism into Hungary. And yet this
same Coalition, after sacrificing to its thirst for office the most
vital points of its political programme, now proceeded to en-
force against the sister-nation of Croatia an absolutism of the
most stringent and oppressive nature. Seldom has the irony
of history been so strikingly illustrated.^'*^
An active campaign of denunciation and slander was now
opened by the press organs of the Government ^^^ against the
Croato-Serb Coalition, and the Starcevic party, in its blind
hatred of the Serbs, was shortsighted enough to swell the chorus.
The Coalition press, when it replied to these attacks, was re-
peatedly confiscated. Even the manifesto to the nation, which
the Coalition members issued on March 20, was subjected to
the same treatment. A month later the eighteen members of
the Serb Independent Party issued an open letter to the Ban,
summoning him to substantiate the charges of treasonable and
anti-dynastic tendencies, which he and his press had brought
against them.^*^ They ascribed his slanders to the desire to
**' See my Absolutismus in Kroatien (p. i) which had the honour of
being confiscated by Baron Rauch's Government in October, 1909.
^** Narodne N ovine (The Official Gazette), Agramer Zeitung (for foreign
consumption), and a scurrilous sheet called Ustavnost which ceased
publication within a week of Rauch's fall.
^** His first charge appeared in an interview in ^ ^ Ujsdg (of Budapest)
on January 18, and it was repeated in Neue Freie Presse of 19th and the
Narodne Novine of January 22. After the elections he informed a re-
porter of the Viennese Zeit that the threads of the Coalition extended
not only to Bosnia but also to Servia. Soon after he informed the
Hungarian Cabinet of the dangers of the Croatian situation, owing to
159
THE RESOLUTION OF FIUME
break up the Coalition by ruining the Serb party and so to
retain his hold upon the office of Ban.^*^ They then pledged
themselves that if he would convoke the Sabor, they would
themselves demand of it the suspension of their immunity,
in order that their case might be tried before the public courts,
and concluded by declaring that, if the Ban refused compliance
with their just demand, they would be entitled to assume that
he had " from his lofty position consciously and maliciously
lied, slandered and denounced," To this fiery document Baron
Ranch replied by a brief statement, repeating his former
insinuations and declining to adduce any proofs ^'^'^ ; whereupon
the Independent Serbs issued a further declaration treating
their assumption as conclusively proved. Baron Ranch's
statement acquired added significance from the fact that it
was issued immediately after his audience with Dr. Wekerle
and Baron Aehrenthal in Budapest, and that the press was
allowed to assume without contradiction that he was acting
with the full approval of those two statesmen.^^^ Professor
Manojlovic as a member of the Serb Independent party, had
of course signed its manifestoes along with all his colleagues ;
and Baron Ranch now revenged himself by placing him upon
the retired list, a step which roused intense feeling in academic
circles. Professor Surmin, of the Progressive party, had
already been deprived of his chair, because he had watched a
student demonstration against the Ban at the railway station
of Agram, without making any attempt to intervene. Thus
in the one case Baron Ranch took political vengeance for an
Pan-Serb propaganda ; these remarks were published in the press and
were met by no dementi. {See Manifesto of Serb Independent Party
in Die Ritterliche Affaire des Baron Paul Ranch, pp. 7-10.)
246 "You are deliberately and systematically working to represent us
as dangerous and revolutionary elements and you are doing this in
order to convince the decisive factors of the necessity for your remain-
ing in the post of Ban, and of the danger which your removal might
cause to the Dynasty and the Monarchy " (op. cit. p. 9).
2*' " As the Independent Serb Party has seen fit to transfer a purely
political matter to personal ground, I hereby declare that I will not
follow it there, the more so as it did not find it advisable to disprove its
tendencies, which were already sufficiently evident. On the contrary,
the Independent Serb party and its chief organ Srbohran prove by their
sympathies for the Pan-Serb dreams, which have publicist representa-
tives outside the bounds of the monarchy, that they indulge in these
dreams with pleasure. My remarks referred to this behaviour, and I
will not enter upon further polemics. April 11, 1908. Baron Paul
Ranch." (See op. cit. p. 11.)
2*8 See e.g. Neue Freie Presse, April 11, 1908 (Abendblatt).
160
AN OFFICIAL CAMPAIGN
attitude which from a drawing-room point of view may not
have been above criticism, but which certainly offended against
no known law ; in the other case, out of even more petty feel-
ings of revenge, he punished a single individual for the sins of
eighteen and sheltered his personal honour behind the armour
of his official position. The University of Agram rightly re-
garded Ranch's actions as an infringement of its autonomy,
and as a result of the ensuing agitation, the great majority of
students withdrew from Agram and spent the summer semester
at Vienna, Prague or Graz.
From the moment of Baron Ranch's arrival in Agram, Dr.
Joseph Frank, the leader of the Party of Pure Right and his
organ Hrvatsko Pravo, had entered with great vigour into the
campaign against the Croato-Serb Coalition, and had rivalled
even the official press in the charges of disloyalty and intrigue.
Dr. Frank's tactics did much to accentuate still further the
extreme bitterness of party feeling in Croatia, and the utterly
reckless personalities exchanged between the parties had a
demoralizing effect upon public life. The attitude adopted by
Dr. Frank, so inconsistent with his programme of uncompromis-
ing opposition to the Compromise and to Hungary, at this stage
aroused suspicions among his own followers and (personal differ-
ences as usual supervening) led to an open secession from the
party (April 23, 1908).'*^ The leader of the Dissidents, as they
came to be called, was Dr. Mile Starcevic, a man who atones
for lack of ability by his transparent honesty of purpose, and
whose most valuable asset is the name inherited from his
famous uncle.
Throughout the spring and summer of igo8 an elaborate
campaign was waged by the official press of Agram, Buda-
pest and Vienna against the Croato-Serb Coalition, and its
" treasonable designs." A number of articles began to
appear as early as April in the Pester Lloyd, the regular
receptacle of statements intended by the Viennese Foreign
Office for the consumption of the foreign public. ^^"^ The
*" Only four deputies seceded, but they were joined later on by others,
until the two sections were roughly in the proportion of five to two.
2'° It may be worth while to quote at length from one of the earliest
and most significant of these inspired press onslaughts. Readers of my
later chapters will find a great deal between the lines. " In Agram
especially the Serb danger has become serious, for . . . the Serbo-Croat
Coalition to-day no longer makes a Croat policy, but is completely
under the spell of the irreconcilable Pan-Serb Radicalism, which seeks
S.S.Q. 161 M
THE RESOLUTION OF FIUME
Serb danger in Croatia is gravely discussed by those who
have for the past decades favoured the Serbs at the expense of
the Croats. The Coahtion is accused of intimate connexions
with the Servian Government. The situation of Bosnia is
depicted in the gloomiest colours ; the old paeans in praise of
Austrian administrative success give place to accounts of
sedition, unrest, and Pan-Serb propaganda. Perhaps the most
significant feature of all these articles is the author's intimate
knowledge of facts — ^perhaps " surmises " and assertions would
be more accurate — ^which could only be elicited through secret
service methods. The movements of Servian Government
spies in Dalmatia and Bosnia, their relations with the Serb press
in Sarajevo, the intrigues of Belgrad agents among the Serb
troops of the Monarchy ; the " huge sums " paid by Servia to
English and French publicists, the reception accorded by King
Peter to Bosnian deputations — all these details, and many
more, are faithfully recorded now by [journals of the first rank,
now by less reputable organs of opinion, as occasion served.
Most sensational of all was the so-called " Coronation pro-
gramme," revealed by the Pester Lloyd on April 28, and con-
taining the plan of action which, it was alleged. Dr. Pasid,
the Servian Premier, had laid before King Peter in March,
1904, and which had formed the basis of Servian policy ever
since. Needless to say no indication was given of the manner
in which access had been gained to so highly confidential
a document ; and we shall not go far wrong in ascribing it
to the same troubled source as the " documents " upon which
Baron Aehrenthal relied to justify his annexation policy. This
remarkable programme contained the following eight points,
to have as little to do with Budapest as with Vienna, and sees its aim
and desire in a great Southern Slav State, governed from Belgrade,
If none the less various politicians of the Serbo-Croat Coalition have
recently wooed the help of Vienna, this was solely to mobilise the
Viennese Court against Budapest, but, by no means out of love for
Austria or the Dynasty. The overtures of the Coalition, which were
at once seen through, . . . were without effect, for in Vienna one has
and can have no interest in the establishment at Agram, merely out of
hatred for Hungary, of a regime in which Pan-Serbism plays first fiddle,
and which would finally turn against Austria and the Djmasty as much
as against Hungary. The net which the Pan-Serb Propaganda seeks
to spread over the whole south and south-east of Austria-Hungary must
at last be rent asunder, and the Pan-Serb hydra's head must be hewn oflE.
That can certainly only be achieved, if in Agram and Budapest, in
Sarajevo and Vienna a common plan is adopted against the common
foe." Pester Lloyd, April 18, 1908.
162
THE PAN-SERB IDEA
(i) Alliance of Servia with Montenegro and a joint foreign
policy ; (2) an agreement with Bulgaria regarding the Mace-
donian reforms ; (3) furtherance of the Coalition idea in Croatia,
and encouragement of the Hungarian Party of Independence
in its struggle with the Crown ; (4) economic emancipation
from Austro-Hungarian markets ; (5) revolutionary agita-
tion in Bosnia, and publicist propaganda in the West, with
the object of discrediting the Austrian administration ; (6)
agreement with Italy regarding the Adriatic and agitation
for a free harbour in Dalmatia ; (7) the formation of a
" Wandering " Southern Slav Committee for the purpose of
intrigue with Serb politicians in the monarchy ; (8) the Coron-
ation of Peter Karageorgevitch as King of all the Serbs. A
special department, it was alleged, had been formed in the
Servian Foreign Office, for the purpose of organizing a revo-
lutionary movement in Bosnia ; and the fact that Mr. Spalaj-
kovi6, the official in charge of the so-called " Macedonian "
department, was related by marriage to one of the Bosnian
Serb leaders, lent colour to the allegation.
As a statement combining the actual motives of Servia's
policy with other aims which she ought to but did not follow,
and with others again whose truth would tend to palliate
measures of repression in Croatia and Bosnia, this document
must be pronounced to be highly plausible. That every
Servian dreams of a Pan-Serb Empire, no one will be con-
cerned to deny ; but no one who knows anything of the
wretched organization of the kingdom and of the glaring con-
trast between ambitious ideals and big talk on the one hand
and on the other complete failure to translate words into
action, will be disposed to take the matter seriously. Servia,
weakened by the feuds of regicides and • anti-regicides,
demoralized by the events of 1903 and its aftermath of crime
and intrigue, was utterly incapable of undertaking any action
which would seriously menace the Dual Monarchy ; and
such surplus energy as was left over from internal party
strife, was devoted not to Bosnia, but to Macedonia and
Old Servia, where the Servian element has for the last ten
years been steadily receding before Bulgar and Albanian
aggression. The support of Servian bands in Turkey was
a sufficiently severe strain upon Belgrade, without its indulging
in wild and unpromising adventures west of the Drina. That
the new movement for Croato-Serb unity in Croatia was wel-
comed in Belgrad may be taken for granted, and it is equally
163
THE RESOLUTION OF FIUME
certain that Servian exaltados believed that the work of the
CoaHtion would redound to Servia's advantage — a belief
due partially to their ignorance of their kinsmen across the
frontier, and partially to a better founded perception of the
shortsightedness and credulity of Vienna. But only this latter
quality ought to have deluded Austrian public opinion into
regarding Serbo-Croat national feeling as in any way different
from similar manifestations among the Germans or Italians
of the Monarchy. The movement in Croatia for national
unity was a natural development which any student of historic
evolution might have foreseen. It was entirely independent
of similar movements across the frontier ; and a statesman
of real genius would have understood how to use the movement
as a powerful instrument in furthering Austrian influence
throughout the Balkans, instead of stupidly alienating the
race upon whose good-will the ultimate success of a forward
policy must depend.
Meanwhile Ranch wreaked his vengeance on the officials
who had voted for the Coalition ; many were suspended or
transferred, some even sent to posts in Magyar districts of
Hungary, where not a word of Croatian was spoken. The
usual practices of withdrawing licences, or orders, and inflicting
vexatious fines were employed by the authorities. In Bosnia
the Serb press was treated with extreme severity ; and virtu-
ally the entire staff of Srpski Rijec was sentenced to lengthy
terms of imprisonment on charges of sedition.
The persistence of the campaign made it obvious that some
important political design was on foot, but during the summer
of 1908 suspicion was not yet centred upon the mainspring
of the action. The determination of the Magyars to restore
discord between Croat and Serb and so to reduce Croatia once
more to submission seemed at first to be a sufficient explana-
tion ; and hardly any one realized that a carefully prepared
campaign was on foot for the annexation of Bosnia and
Herzegovina, and that the Viennese authorities were in search
of such facts and material as would render the plea of absolute
necessity convincing in the eyes of Europe. In his designs
Baron Aehrenthal found a ready accomplice in the Budapest
Government, which was determined to crush the Croats at
all costs. The Magyar leaders hoped, by a complaisant attitude
towards the annexation, to purchase from the Crown a free hand
in the matter of electoral reform, and calculated that if com-
plications should arise reform might be indefinitely postponed.
164
TRAITOR-HUNTING
The ancient claims of suzerainty exercised by Hungary over
Bosnia, also seem to have influenced the Coalition Cabinet. ^^^
The press campaign inaugurated by Ranch, and ably
sustained by the Frank party, increased in violence as the
summer began. The first arrests soon followed.
In May, 1908, Hrvatsko Pravo, the organ of Dr. Joseph
Frank, published letters from Kostajnica (a small town on
the Bosnian frontier) , which were intended to prove the exist-
ence of a Pan-Serb revolutionary propaganda. Proclama-
tions, it was reported, had been distributed in the town urging
the Croats to revolt and join the kingdom of Servia. Sceptics
wondered why a place from which Servia is almost inaccessible,
and where a small minority of 300 Serbs is overawed by over
1,500 enthusiastic adherents of Dr. Frank, should have been
selected as a centre of Pan-Serb propaganda. ^^^ None the
less on July i two shoemaker's assistants and an old woman
of seventy-three were arrested on a charge of high treason.
The Public Prosecutor hastened down from Agram, and two
further victims were found, in a village schoolmaster and a
clerk. These five persons remained for many weeks in prison,
and were at last released when the absurdity of the charge
against them had become too patent, and when more promising
victims had been obtained elsewhere.
On July 9 Dusan Mandic, a " traveller " for an Agram
friendly society called Srpsko Bratstvo ^^^ (Serb brotherhood)
was suddenly arrested at Rakovica,^^* and handed over not
to the local court, but to the Mayor of Agram, a special con-
fident of Rauch, who in his turn consigned him to prison.
After a delay of nearly three weeks, the officials who had
accused him declared their grounds for the arrest to be an
official secret, and Mandic was allowed to remain in prison.
In his despair he refused all food, and after six days of this
" hungerstrike " was sent to a hospital, where he was shut
up for two days in a cell with a madman. At last he was
released, without any attempt at explanation or apology.
The Public Prosecutor, Mr. Accurti, who had only recently
251 See Dr. Wekerle's speech in Parliament, July 3, 1907.
2" In other words Kostajnica is one of the least favourable spots in
Croatia for Pan-Serb propaganda, but one of the most favourable for
trumped-up charges.
^" A kind of Life Assurance Company. Two of the Serb bishops are
its members and the present Patriarch Bogdanovic formally recom-
mended it to the lower clergy.
^** In the County of ModruS-Fiume, close to the Bosnian frontier.
165
THE RESOLUTION OF FIUME
been appointed over the heads of thirty-six of his colleagues,
had meanwhile decided upon his line of action ; Mandic and
the five prisoners from Kostajnica had served their purpose
as " blinds." The real victims were now to be selected ;
the necessary tools were also forthcoming. Baron Ranch
had wished to proclaim a state of siege in Croatia ^^^ ; but
Dr. Wekerle was not prepared to go to such lengths, and
refused to allow an active campaign against the Serbs until
the election of the new Serb Patriarch had taken place.^^^
This election, upon the result of which the Magyar Govern-
ment relied to detach the Serb Radicals from the Croato-
Serb Coalition, actually passed off without incident on August
I. On July 21, however, a meeting had taken place between
Dr. Wekerle, Baron Ranch, Mr. Josipovic (the Minister for
Croatia) and — Mr. Accurti, who reported upon his preparation
for the coming hunt for traitors. The train was now laid ;
the first explosion was caused by the notorious pamphlet
Finale, published by George Nastic in the last week of July.
The best service which could be rendered to this individual,
is to consign his name to a speedy and lasting oblivion, and
it is not the wretched puppet himself, but the wirepullers
behind him that compel me to assign to his pamphlets and
evidence a prominence which they do not by themselves merit.
George Nastic is a native of Sarajevo, and at the time when
he first acquired notoriety, was a student at Vienna University,
with but little prospect of completing his studies. It has
since transpired — and indeed has not even been denied by
Nastic himself — that he was in the pay of the Bosnian police,^*'
^^5 Masaryk, DerAgramer Hochverraisprozess, p. 87. Rauch's inter-
viewwith Wekerle was on April 25.
2^^ The Patriarch is elected by the Church Congress at Karlovitz,
though it is in the power of the Hungarian Government to withhold
the Royal Sanction and order a new election. On this occasion, active
measures against the Serbs would have alienated the Serb Radicals,
who were playing a double game with the Government in order to
secure the acceptance of their candidate for the Patriarchate.
^*' E.g., Hron, op. cit. (p. 49) states that he was often seen in the ante-
chamber of the Sectional Chief for the Interior, in Sarajevo, in com-
pany with a well-known Government agent. Srbobran, the organ of
the Serb Independent party in Agram, published facsimiles of letters
proving this connexion. On August 25, 1908, there appeared in Srbo-
bran a signed statement of Risto Radulovic, editor of the Serb newspaper
Narod in Mostar (the little capital of Herzegovina), charging " the spy
George Nastic " in the most explicit terms with " espionage, theft and
swindle," on various occasions (e.g., the theft of opera glasses in the
166
THE SLOVENSKI JUG
and acted as agent provocateur at various demonstrations
in the Bosnian capital.^^^ In December, 1906, he was nomi-
nally expelled from Bosnia, and found his way to Belgrad,
where he soon ingratiated himself in political circles by the
pubhcation of a pamphlet on " The Jesuits of Bosnia." This
effusion, which is devoted to an attack upon Archbishop Stadler
of Sarajevo and his unwise methods of Catholic propaganda,
is, according to its author, based upon information supplied
by a land agent in the Archbishop's own service ; on the
other hand, Pokret, the organ of the Croatian Progressive
party, maintains that Nastic did not write a word of it, but
merely received the proofs from an agent of the Bosnian
Government, which hoped to serve its own ends by the publi-
cation of such a pamphlet in Servia. In any case the pamphlet
appears to have caused some sensation in Belgrad and secured
Nastic the entree into the Slovenski Jug {" The Slav South "),
which, according to his own account, was a revolutionary
club, having numerous connexions with all the most prominent
Southern Slav leaders. It is upon his alleged experiences in
this Club that Finale is based.
One of its most prominent members, we learn, was Captain
Nenadovic, a cousin of King Peter ; both the King himself
and Prince George took a lively interest in its proceedings.
A Conference was held in Belgrad, a policy of active terrorism
was approved, arrangements were made through the mediation
of the Crown Prince ^^^ for the manufacture of bombs at the
Servian military arsenal in Kragujevac, and money was
forthcoming from the Court. The Club meetings were attended
by Valerian Pribicevic, a professor of theology in the Orthodox
Seminary at Karlovitz, and by his brother Milan, who, though
formerly an officer of the Austrian army, had deserted it for
the service of King Peter. These two had secured as adherents
of their designs their third brother Adam, a local administra-
tive official at Vrginmost in Croatia, and Bude Budisavl-
jevic, a deputy of the Serb Independent party. Nastic himself
was deputed to superintend the bomb making, which he
describes in considerable detail. Finally the bombs were
Viennese Burgtheater !) and challenging him to bring an action for
libel. Cited verbatim in Der Hochverratsfrozess (publication of the
Defence), p. 113. Nastid ignored this.
25S For calling out " Long live King Peter " in the streets he was fined
200 crowns, which were never paid. While he was left unassailed others
who had joined in the cry at his instigation were put into prison.
2B» Finale, p. 18.
167
THE RESOLUTION OF FIUME
packed, brought back to Belgrade and lodged on the premises
of the Slovenski Jug.^^° Up to this stage, the bombs were
intended for use upon Austrian soil ; but, Nenadovic now
proposed that they should be sent to Montenegro and justified
the suggestion by asserting that Prince Nicholas had sold
to Austria-Hungary the Balkan plans of Italy. The scheme
met with some opposition from the members, but eventually
these very bombs were discovered in Cetinje ! Nastic himself,
disgusted at the idea of a plot against Montenegro, returned to
Bosnia in September, 1907, and as early as November we find
him in Cetinje, in touch with the Montenegrin secret police.^®^
In the spring of 1908 he appeared as a witness in the notorious
High Treason Trial at Cetinje, and in July he decided " out
of higher humanitarian and patriotic grounds " ^®^ to unmask
the criminal designs of his former associates. It is worth
noting in this connexion that Nastid admits having received
over 4,000 crowns from Montenegro, in order to defend him-
self against Press attacks, and that he used this to publish
Finale. ^^^
As proof of this revolutionary design Nasti6 published in
an Appendix to Finale certain documents in facsimile
— firstly some postcards written to Nastic from Brussels by
Ljubomir Jovanovi<5, one of the chief members of Slovenski
Jug, and secondly, as piece de resistance, a " provisional
statute of organization for the liberation of the Southern
Slavs " transcribed in the handwriting of Milan Pribicevic
and accepted by a conference of Slovenski Jug in December,
1907. According to Nastic the apparently harmless references
on these postcards to a " library," to Schiller's Song of the
Bell, and to a certain " degenerate fellow " called Nicholas who
" seems " to have " sealed his fate," must be interpreted as
allegorical references,^ ^ to a collection of bombs, to revolution-
ary propaganda and to the Prince of Montenegro. ^^^
260 Finale, p. 29.
2" Masaryk, p. 86. The Montenegrin Premier, Dr. Tomanovic, ad-
mitted this on June 12, 1909, in an interview in the Narodni Listy
(Prague).
'" In three instalments of 1,000,300 and 3,000 crowns. See his evidence
98th day of Agram Trial. He further admitted having demanded a
larger sum later on, to keep himself going.
263 Finale, p. 66.
26* In reality this wicked " Nicholas " was probably Nicholas Jovi-
te\ii, the chief of police in Cetinje, whom Nastic had met and intrigued
with in Semlin. See Masaryk, op. cit. p. 57.
168
NASTIC'S PAMPHLETS
In the absence of all proof, Nastic's bare assertion is pre-
sumably to be accepted as sufficient guarantee of these secret
and fantastic meanings. More important, however, is the
statute, which subsequent events have shown to be really
in the handwriting of Milan Pribicevic. This long-winded
and ridiculous document aims at " Southern Slav National
Unity," to achieve which a " Revolutionary Organization "
is to be founded. Its true ideal is " a great Southern Slav
federation of Republics," its methods should be revolutionary ;
but as " active terrorism, . . . the so-called Revolution by
outrages, is, under our conditions almost impossible and
fruitless," these methods resolve themselves into " a question
of tactics," which must vary according to the country and
province. The sphere of action is limited to Servia, Bosnia,
Herzegovina, Dalmatia, Montenegro, Croatia, Slavonia, Istria,
the Slovene Country, Hungary, Old Servia, and Macedonia ;
co-operation with the Bulgarians is regarded as quite impossible.
An elaborate plan of revolution is to be concocted, with
" political, geographical, topographical, economic and statistical
data " (!) " for all possible eventualities." ^^^ Agitation is to
be conducted by pamphlets and through the press ; foreign
public opinion is to be won ; connexions are to be formed
with "similar organizations abroad." A special branch is to
be formed in America. Propaganda is to be made in the
Austro-Hungarian Army. Then follows a kind of syllabus of
membership and organization compiled like the list of contents
of some German scientific work ; everything grouped neatly
under such headings as provincial, communal, individual
organizations, rights and duties of Committees, division of
labour, their sphere of influence and relations to each other.
The final section lays down the tactics to be observed in the
various countries. In Servia " where freedom and popular
government prevails," these are to consist in " finding means
and persons " ; in Hungary, where " a revolution is not possible,"
in awakening the people's consciousness " ; in Bosnia, " where
the people has no rights, and in Turkey, where it is in physical
slavery," in an extreme democratic struggle against the
Government, and in terrorist action ; in Croatia and in Dal-
matia, in supporting those elements which are for Union
and Serbo-Croat equality ; among the Slovenes, in supporting
the Progressives against Austrian Clericalism ; in Montenegro,
in "terrorist action against the old regime."
^^^ As if the Slovenski Jug was a kind of Statistical Office.
169
THE RESOLUTION OF FIUME
I have treated this fantastic scheme in far greater detail
than it deserves, because it was the only concrete document
which was produced at the Agram High Treason Trial, and
because it would appear to have contributed materially
towards persuading the Viennese authorities of the existence
of a Pan-Serb conspiracy. Yet it is not easy to understand
how any serious politician could take the " Statute " of Milan
Pribicevic seriously. Its glaringly unpractical nature is
patent to every reader : for it is obvious that really dangerous
conspirators, so far from compiling for their own guidance
elaborate rules of the most doctrinaire type, have the most
wholesome horror of pen and ink. That the highest circles
in Belgrad, if they really did contemplate the murder of
Prince Nicholas and a revolution in Bosnia, would ever have
employed such a garrulous visionary as Milan Pribicevic, is
ludicrously improbable. Certain it is that the frequent
successful conspiracies which have stained the annals of
modern Servia, were conducted on very different lines, or
they would not have been successful. And if Milan Pribicevic
was an unlikely instrument, how much more unlikely is it
that George Nasti6 would have been employed in any capacity
save that of a subordinate spy. Belgrade contains, relatively
to its population, more secret service agents than any European
capital save St. Petersburg ; and Nastic's antecedents would
have been sufficient to deter the Servian Government from
entrusting him with important work, even if it had not had
such a wide and varied choice.
Still more glaring are the contradictions in which Nastic
involves himself in the course of his pamphlet. On the one
hand he gives his readers to suppose that the Slovenski
Jug had important connexions everywhere ; on the other
he poses as the moving spirit of the conspiracy, and hints
that nothing had been done before his arrival in Belgrad .^^'
At one place he tells how the statute was adopted at a large
conference of the Slovenski Jug, headed by the President ;
at another he admits the President to have been in Brussels
at the time.^^' He emphasizes the keen interest shown by
King Peter and Prince George in the proceedings of the
Slovenski Jug ^^^ ; and yet the statute which the Club (includ-
ing the King's alleged kinsman Nenadovic) ^®^ unanimously
^^^ Hron, p. 51. 267 Masaryk, p. 47. ^es Finale, p. 15.
2^* The relationship was denied in an official dementi of the Servian
Government.
170
THE INFORMER NASTiC
adopts, is avowedly anti-dynastic and republican .2'° At
one point he describes Milan Pribicevic as the author of the
statute, at another, he speaks of its " authors " ; in his evidence
at Agram he said that it was compiled at the meetings of the
Slovenski Jug, while in his final pamphlet " Where is the
truth ? " he describes it as the work of the Servian Foreign
Office.2'1 He tells us how he returned to Bosnia in September,
1907, after taking a leading part in the proceedings of the
Slovenski Jug ; and apparently expects us to believe that the
Bosnian police knev/ so little of this (according to his own
account) dangerous agitator as to leave him undisturbed.^"
Most suspicious of all, he assures us that he is acting from
the loftiest patriotic motives "^ in the interest of the Southern
Slav nation,^"^ but a little later he reveals quite another motive,
when he writes that, in order to silence the attacks made upon
him in connexion with the Cetinje Trial, he must act upon
the words, " An eye, for an eye, a tooth for a tooth." ^'^
Of his motives, indeed, the less said the better, for every
line of his pamphlets tells the same sordid story, and reveals
an unhealthy craving for notoriety, a weak megalomania
which may fairly be said to " think in bombs." ^'^
270 Pinale, pp. 48-9.
2" Wo ist die Wahrheit ? p. 14. Masaryk, pp. 45-6. Nastic in his
evidence (95th day of the High Treason Trial) again affirmed that the
ideas underlying the statute are not those of Pribicevic.
^" This fact is, of course, one of the best proofs of Nastic's connexions
with the Bosnian police. A stUl more decisive proof is a letter addressed
to Nastic from Sarajevo on April 10, 1908, by Captain INIichael Vomer,
a member of the Austrian General Staff, and showing that Nastic sup-
plied the military authorities in Bosnia with secret information, in
return for money. This letter was published by Srbobran and its
genuine character was never disputed.
2" Finale, p. 7. 274 i^ij, p_ g.
2'^ Ibid. p. 16. In his evidence at the High Treason Trial (97th day)
he gives as his chief motive in publishing Finale, the desire to prevent
the bombs being discharged into Austro-Hungarian territory.
2'^ It is difficult to realize how Nastic could have expected any sane
reader to believe the contents of his pamphlets. For instance, after
telling us of his reception at the hands of prominent politicians in Bel-
grad, and of the keen interest aroused in him as a Bosnian political re-
fugee, he asks us seriously to believe that he went to the little pro\'incial
town of Kragujevac, under the assumed name of " Dr. Kraus, engineer
from Vienna," and there got into touch with the chief of the arsenal,
without the Servian police having any notion of what he was doing. A
still more flagrant absurdity. Nastic tells us that his main cause of
complaint against his fellow-conspirators was that they were sending
bombs against Montenegro instead of against Austria Hungary. He
171
THE RESOLUTION OF FIUME
The denunciations of Nastic were followed during the first
fortnight of August, 1908, by the arrest, on a charge of high
treason, of two of Milan Pribicevic's brothers, Adam, an official
in the small town of Vrginmost and Valerian, a Professor in
the Serb Orthodox Theological Seminary in Karlovitz.^"
Nastic, in company with no less a person than Mr. Sporcic,
the head of the Croatian police, went from Budapest, where his
pamphlet was published, to Vienna and from there to Agram.^^^
He was then subjected to a preliminary examination, and
the long array of illegalities on the part of the authorities
began. According to his own avowal, Nastic was not merely
guilty of high treason, but was actually one of the foremost
conspirators ; in such cases the Criminal Code of Croatia
expressly lays down that no suspect can either be put on oath
or allowed to remain at liberty before the trial.^'^ Yet Nastic
was not arrested, and was allowed to give evidence under
oath both at the preliminary inquiry and at the subsequent
trial. The inference drawn from this by many acute observers
to whom the above-mentioned details were as yet inaccessible,
was, that Nastic was a spy and agent provocateur.
The arrest of the Pribicievic brothers was the signal for a
therefore returns to Bosnia and promptly proceeds to denounce to the
Austrian police as " traitors " those persons who had declined to con-
spire against the Monarchy. Hron (op. cit. p. 53) rightly remarks that
this fact alone would suffice to prove the absurdity of the whole High
Treason trial.
^" The fourth brother Svetozar, is editor of Srbobran and one of the
chief deputies of the Serb Independent party.
2" See p. 324 for the relations of Sporcic with Nastic and other shady
individuals. In Cetinje, Nastic had according to his own account {see
94th day of High Treason Trial) made the acquaintance of Steinhardt,
an Austrian Jewish journalist who had been expelled from Servia and
lived in SemUn, the frontier town opposite Belgrad, as correspondent
of Viennese journals. Not long after, Steinhardt introduced Nastic to
Mr. Leopold Mandl, the editor of Baron Aehrenthal's semi-official
organ the Wiener Allegemeine Zeitung (author of Oesterreich-Ungarn
and Serbien, a well-written apology for the Aehrenthal Policy), who
made it possible for him to publish the Croatian and Servian editions
of Finale. As the reader will realize, we are now in very troubled
waters. Nastic maintains that he placed the original of the Statute
for safety in Steinhardt's hands. It certainly has not been produced.
^" The only exception made is in favour of those who supply secret
information calculated to frustrate the plot at a time when the authori-
ties were still without information. As Nastic, so far from this, actu-
ally published his information (and so, it might be argued, publicly
warned the conspirators and gave them time to efface the traces of their
plot) the exemption did not apply to his case.
172
SERB VICTIMS
regular campaign against the Serbs on the part of Baron Ranch's
Government. By October i, thirty-three arrests had been made,
including six village schoolmasters, six small tradesmen, two
students, a mayor, a notary, a forester and two priests, Father
Mili(^ and the Archpriest Nicholas Hercegovac. Some were
placed in chains on their way to Agram, only one was examined
after his arrest, none were allowed to communicate with their
lawyers, some were even forced to share cells with condemned
criminals of the worst type.
The Government having dispensed with all pretence at con-
stitutional rule, had openly reverted to the old anti-Serb policy
which had prevailed under Count Khuen's predecessors. After
twenty years of subservience to Magyar aims, the Serbs had
dared to unite with their natural allies, the Croats. To punish
them for this unwonted self-assertion and to restore the old
enmity between the two races, was the task assigned by Buda-
pest to Baron Ranch and his creatures. The motives which
led the Ballplatz to associate itself with the anti-Serb cam-
paign, and the events to which this cynical alliance gave rise
will be explained in the following chapter.
173
CHAPTER IX
The Annexation of Bosnia and the Agram
High Treason Trial
THE fall of Count Goluchowski in October, 1906, marks
the opening of a new era in Austro-Hungarian foreign
policy. His successor, Baron Aehrenthal, showed no inclina-
tion to follow in the old paths of inaction and self-depreciation
on which the Ballplatz had walked since the days of Andrassy.
Ten years as ambassador in St. Petersburg had taught him
to believe in Austria's strength and mission, and in that essen-
tial corollary, Russia's weakness. While fully alive to the
value of the German alliance, he understood better than the
world at large the essential weakness of the Triple Entente
for purposes of aggression ; and having assigned to himself
the ambitious role of an Austrian Bismarck, he flattered him-
self that he could impose his wishes upon an unwilling and
divided Europe and deliberately set himself to evolve an
Eastern policy in which Germany should be led instead of
leading.
After a year spent in consolidating his position. Baron
Aehrenthal inaugurated the new forward policy in January,
1908, by his scheme for a railway through the Sandjak of
Novibazar. The absurd outcry with which this project was
greeted in the European Press was not the real reason for its
abandonment some months later. This was rather caused
by grave engineering and financial difficulties which the minis-
ter had strangely overlooked in giving his project to the world.
A further important factor in the abandonment was the new
strategic theory put forward by the military authorities, that
Austria's true line of advance into the Balkans lies not through
the barren and worthless Sandjak, but along the valley of
the Morava, which forms the backbone of the kingdom of
Servia and offers direct access to Salonica and the Aegean.
For some years past this secret and unavowed theory has
174
THE TURKISH REVOLUTION
coloured Austria-Hungary's whole attitude towards her Balkan
neighbours.
The Turkish Revolution, with its sequel the restoration
of the short-lived constitution of 1876, led Baron Aehrenthal
to hasten his pace. The difficulties which faced the Young
Turkish regime seemed to offer a favourable opportunity for
finally legalizing Austria-Hungary's position in the occupied
provinces. The nominal survival of the Sultan's suzerainty
over Bosnia would, it was argued, inevitably lead to complica-
tions now that Turkey had shaken off its long lethargy and
showed a genuine tendency to reform. The Bosnian Moham-
medans would look more than ever towards Stambul, and
might even claim the right of sending deputies to the Ottoman
Parliament. Whichever turn affairs might take, prompt
action seemed advisable. If the new regime should prove
a success, there was a real danger of the Chauvinists of Stambul
reasserting obsolete claims ; and it would be well to forestall
this possibility. If on the other hand it should prove a failure,
Austria-Hungary was but accomplishing, at a time convenient
to itself, what was sooner or later inevitable. Russia was
known to be unprepared for war since her defeat in the Far
East : Germany was at the worst a friendly neutral ; and
it was calculated that the Western Powers, even if they opposed,
would not push their opposition to extremes.
At the time of the Sandjak scheme, Baron Aehrenthal
appears to have still hoped to attain his ends in the Near East
by means of a skilful plan of " compensations all round " ; and
there is good reason to believe that the opening of the Dar-
danelles to Russian warships was to have been Russia's share
of the spoils. Unfortunately Russian public opinion treated
the Sandjak scheme as an infringement of the understanding
which had been concluded between Russia and Austria-Hun-
gary at Miirzsteg in 1897 and had regulated their attitude to
Macedonia ever since ; while the Reval meeting between King
Edward and the Czar (June, igo8) was regarded in Vienna
as a fresh stage in a policy of Balkan innovation, inaugurated
by Sir Edward Grey's proposals of Macedonian financial
reform. ^^^ Thus on both sides public opinion was already
nervous and suspicious, when the international crisis broke
out in the autumn of 1908.
'^° There can be little doubt that these proposals really gave an impetus
to the Young Turk movement, and thus were partially responsible for
the downfall of Hamidian rule.
THE ANNEXATION OF BOSNIA
It seems certain that the annexation of Bosnia and Herze-
govina was already being contemplated before the outbreak
of the Turkish revolution. But the exact method by which
this step was to be accomplished had not yet been determined,
when on October 5, 1908, Prince Ferdinand of Bulgaria pro-
claimed his country's independence and assumed the kingly
title. Baron Aehrenthal's hand had again been forced, and
immediate action was decided upon. Two days later, the
annexation of Bosnia was formally announced in a manifesto
of the Emperor Francis Joseph to the inhabitants of the two
provinces.
From the very first the legal aspect of the question was
entirely ignored, and the idea that an international treaty
could be binding in inconvenient circumstances does not appear
to have occurred to public opinion in the Monarchy, until it
was emphasized by the foreign press. That the action of
Austria-Hungary and of Bulgaria alike constituted a clear
violation of the Treaty of Berlin and of the earlier Treaty of
London,'^^^ is beyond all dispute. But the indignation expressed
abroad was quite excessive.
The attitude of the British press in particular was not
unnaturally regarded as hypocritical, in view of the position
which Disraeli's Government had adopted towards the question
of annexation in 1878, and still more in view of our own record
in respect of the Cyprus Convention and the occupation of
Egypt. The British Government showed itself to be not so
much hypocritical as doctrinaire in its treatment of the situa-
tion. In theory, its attitude was unimpeachable, for it was
based upon principles of international law such as no amount
of sophistry could undermine. But in practice this attitude
was open to the gravest objections, since the annexation was
frankly based upon the rival principle of brute force. Unless
we had been prepared to wage war in defence of an abstract
theory of international law, we should have done better to
accept the new situation under protest but without reserve or
delay. As it was, our attitude exposed the Triple Entente
to an inevitable rebuff, and in the meantime led Servia to
indulge in false hopes of material aid and thus greatly pro-
longed the crisis. That the annexation was grossly mis-
2" By 11(1871) it is laid down that " no Power can break its treaty
engagements or modify their stipulations except by friendly agreement
and with the assent of the other contracting parties.
176
OPPOSITION IN EUROPE
managed by Baron Aehrenthal and was based upon forgery
and intrigue, does not in any way affect the fact that the British
Government had only two logical alternatives — either enforce-
ment of the Treaty of Berlin at all costs, or recognition of an
act which Britain had eagerly advocated a generation earlier.
Meanwhile, there can be no question that Baron Aehrenthal's
action dealt a fatal blow to the cause of public law among the
nations, and so to the fabric of international agreements to
whose erection the reign of Edward VII had been devoted.
It was resented equally by British Radicals, who saw their
dreams of international disarmament dispelled for an indefinite
period, and by British Conservatives, who wrongly suspected
German influences. But in many quarters, and especially in
Russia, the real motive for the outcry against the Annexation
was disappointment and alarm at the sudden resurrection of
Austria-Hungary as a Great Power, after many years of impo-
tence and effacement. Baron Aehrenthal and his methods
are only too open to criticism ; but one merit cannot be denied
to him. He restored the Monarchy to her place in the counsels
of Europe, and finally dispelled the absurd myth that it is
a weak and decadent state, ready for dismemberment on the
death of its present sovereign. Since the Bosnian crisis,
every one knows that Austria-Hungary is one of the strongest
powers on the Continent, and likely to become stronger, not
weaker, in the immediate future.
The disapproval, not to say hostility, with which Europe
greeted Baron Aehrenthal's coup d'etat, could not be overcome
by the plea that Bulgaria had forced his hand. The less dis-
posed foreign opinion showed itself to accept the explanations
which he offered, the more important did it become to find
proofs of the urgent necessity of annexation.
Aehrenthal's press organs set themselves with praiseworthy
zeal to denounce and expose the Pan-Serb revolutionary move-
ment, which, they alleged, was spreading from its headquarters
in Belgrad all over Croatia, Dalmatia and above all Bosnia-
Herzegovina, and threatened to undermine Habsburg rule
throughout the Southern Slav provinces. It was at this
point that Baron Aehrenthal found valuable allies in the
Hungarian Coalition Government, and in its exponent, Baron
Ranch, the Croatian Ban. The complaisant attitude of the
Magyars — in striking contrast to their keen disapproval in
1878 of the occupation policy — found its explanation in the
internal situation of Hungary. Dr. Wekerle and his
S.S.Q. 177 N
THE ANNEXATION OF BOSNIA
colleagues hoped to mollify their sovereign by complete
subservience in matters of foreign policy, and thus to win his
consent to Count Andrassy's reactionary scheme of plural
voting, which, if once passed, might have postponed all genuine
reform of the franchise for another generation. At the same
time the Magyar Chauvinists had their eyes upon Bosnia,
as a future colony of Budapest. To them the chief danger
lay in the new-found harmony of Croat and Serb, which seemed
to be the precursor of that political unity which, under the
elusive name of Trialism, already filled the dreams of so many
Southern Slavs. In the Magyar interest, the Croato-Serb
Coalition must be shattered at all costs. Baron Ranch's
experiment in arbitrary government had hitherto failed of
the desired effect ; and it may be that so ruse a statesman as Dr.
Wekerle would have dispensed with his services, but for the in-
trigues of certain high officers and ecclesiastics, whose influence
at Court was exercised in his favour. ^^^ But in view of this
secret support and of the difficulty of finding a substitute, it
was thought wise to leave him at his post, and to rely upon
his lack of scruple outbalancing his lack of tact. The most
vulnerable section of the Croato-Serb Coalition was the Serb
Independent Party : against it, therefore, Ranch concentrated
his efforts, acting on parallel instructions from Budapest and
Vienna.
The ulterior aims were different, Budapest seeking to sunder
Croat and Serb once more, and so to reduce Croatia to political
impotence, and if possible the Serbs to their old role as obedient
" Stimmvieh " for the Magyar cause : Vienna being desirous
of proving the existence of widespread unrest and treasonable
agitation, such as could only be effectively checked by an
energetic foreign policy. But while the aims were different,
the means to be adopted were identical. The Serbs must be
compromised : the most dangerous leaders of the Coalition
must be rendered politically impossible : treasonable pro-
paganda on a large scale must be discovered, or if necessary
invented.
We have seen that Baron Ranch, from the very moment
of his appointment as Ban, publicly accused the Coalition
leaders of anti-dynastic and treasonable dealings, while steadily
declining to adduce proofs for his assertion. Direct proceed-
ings against them, however, were impossible, since they were
'"* Cf. Masaryk, op. cit. p. 73.
178
THE AGRAM HIGH TREASON TRIAL
sheltered by their parliamentary immunity, and very naturally
declined to apply for its suspension so long as the Constitution
was suspended and the Diet prevented from meeting. Even
had Rauch been disposed to override their Croatian immunity,
the most important deputies were further covered by their
immunity as delegates to the joint Parliament in Budapest,
and its violation would have created a most dangerous pre-
cedent, of which an unconstitutional Government in Hungary
might some day take advantage against Magyar extremist
deputies. The leaders being, therefore, for the moment
beyond his reach, Rauch had to content himself with smaller
game.
Even before October i twenty-four persons had been arrested
on a charge of treason : on that date eight further arrests
were made. During the next three months frequent arrests
and domiciliary visits were made in various parts of Croatia,
until in January, 1909, no fewer than fifty-eight Serbs were
awaiting their trial in the prison of Agram ^ss — including the
Archpriest of Glina, Nicholas Hercegovac, two other priests
and a curate, seven school teachers and two country doctors.
The remaining prisoners were for the most part well-to-do
tradesmen or petty officials. All without exception were
Serbs, and the great majority open adherents of the Serb
Independent party. The arrests and the inquisitions which
preceded and followed them, naturally caused the greatest
panic throughout the country ; and this was not diminished
by the treatment meted out to the prisoners, most of whom
were brought in chains to the capital, and left for many months
untried. Some were even obliged to share the cells of con-
demned criminals ; for instance, the schoolmaster Borojevic
and the merchant Gajic were confined with two men who
were under sentence of death for murder and robbery. Most
of the prisoners were not examined and remained in ignorance
of the details of the charge against them. Finally, in their
despair, Father Milic, Valerian Pribicevi6 and several others
resorted to a " hungerstrike," not in the hope of regaining
their liberty, but merely in order to be confronted with their
judges.2^
Needless to say, the whole affair awakened, as was intended
283 Five were eventually discharged.
^" Father Milic, after nine days without food, was ordered to be
transferred to the hospital, attempted resistance and had to be removed
by force.
179
THE AGRAM HIGH TREASON TRIAL
by its promoters, intense resentment and indignation in
Belgrad, and fanned to white heat the war fever into which
the annexation of Bosnia had plunged the Servian people.
How far this effect was calculated beforehand by Baron Aehren-
thal and his advisers, is a matter which we shall have to
consider later.
At length on January 15, 1909 — ^five months after the first
arrests — the indictment against the fifty-three Serbs was issued
by the Public Prosecutor, Mr. Accurti.^ss This astonishing
document filled over 100 large octavo pages, and was actually
published as a supplement to the official Croatian Gazette,
Narodne Novine, and scattered broadcast in thousands of
copies. The natural result of this manoeuvre was to stereotype
the evidence of the witnesses and to lessen immensely the
danger of conflicting statements for the prosecution. At
the same time it gave rise to a crop of blackmailing inci-
dents, ^^s
The indictment is an unique example of generalization,
for it is so worded that if a specific act of treason were proved
against a single one of the prisoners, all the others would
thereby be implicated in his guilt .^^^ Its main charge rests
upon the existence of a Pan-Serb and revolutionary movement
in Croatia, directed from the Slovenski Jug in Belgrad
and aiming at the erection of a Greater Servia at the expense
of the Habsburg Monarchy. The revolutionary club itself
is alleged to have been under the direct patronage of King
Peter and Prince George. Only five of the prisoners are
accused of direct relations with Belgrad : ten others are charged
with being accomplices, while the remaining thirty-five are
only indirectly implicated.
The sole documentary proofs brought forward were the
revolutionary statute and letters published by Nasti6 in his
Finale ; and even these were not submitted in the original.
^^^ It is pleasant to be able to record a detail which reveals Dr. Wekerle,
the Hungarian Premier, in a pleasant light. The defending counsel
appealed to him, and it was as a result of his personal intervention
that the opening of the trial was not still further delayed. I give
this fact on the authority of Dr. Popovic, the Serb deputy, and one
of the ablest of the prisoners' counsel.
288 Srbobran of January 22, 1909, published two such letters in fac-
simile. The paper was promptly confiscated by the Public Prose-
cutor !
'*' See pp. 4-5 of the printed indictment, translated on pp. 31-32
of my Absolutismus in Kroatien (Vienna, 1909).
180
TREASONABLE "SYMPTOMS"
Nastic, the informer, who himself admitted only knowing
three of the prisoners, was the only witness cited to prove a
connexion with Belgrad. The rest of the evidence relied
upon consisted of " phenomena " ^^^ of a general kind. The
indictment openly expounds the ideas of Dr. Frank and the
Party of Pure Right. Just as the Magyars argue that in
Hungary there is but one nation, the Magyar, and regard
every reference to a Slovak or Roumanian nation in Hungary
as disloyalty to the State, so Dr. Frank builds all his theories
upon the premiss that every citizen of Croatia can only be a
Croat and that there can be no such thing as a Serb nation in
Croatia, The Public Prosecutor made this line of argument
his own, and hence throughout the document the " Serbs "
are referred to in inverted commas ! It treats as suspicious
and " symptomatic " the fact that the " Serbs " of Croatia
describe their Church as " Serb Orthodox " and not " Greek
Oriental " ^ss ; yet their Metropolitan's official title is " Serb
Patriarch." It treats as symptomatic the use of theCyrilline
alphabet ; yet a law of 1887, passed under Count Khuen
Hedervary, allows its official use in every commune where
there is a Serb majority, and in that case makes it an obligatory
subject in the school. It treats as symptomatic the use of
Serb national songs ; yet these songs, most of which celebrate
the great Serb emperor Stephen Dusan and the fall of Serb
independence on the fatal field of Kossovo in 1389, have been
sung and cherished by every peasant in the Slavonic South
during five centuries. It treats as symptomatic the use of the
" Serb " arms — the cross and the four letters, " S " — as proving
sympathy for the Kingdom of Servia ; yet it is a notorious
fact that these arms have been borne by the Serb Patriarch
ever since he took refuge in Habsburg territory in the seven-
teenth century, that they have been universal in all Serb
lands for centuries, and that Prince Milosch of Servia adopted
them as the arms of the new principality in its struggle against
the Turks. It puts forward the brazen assertion — surely
one of the most monstrous perversions of history ever uttered
by a public prosecutor — that among the population of Croatia
and Slavonia the use of the " Serb " name only came into
2** This word continually recurs in the original document.
^*» The nomenclature still employed by the authorities in Austria-
Hungary — an anachronism dating from the period when all Orthodox
Churches were subject to the Greek Patriarch in Constantinople. No
Orthodox ever uses the phrase himself.
181
THE AGRAM HIGH TREASON TRIAL
vogue since the year 1903, and at once proceeds to connect
this with the accession of the Karageorgevic dynasty and
the growth of the Pan-Serb idea under King Peter's auspices.'^^"
As the reader is already well aware, the year 1903 marks a
change of regime in Croatia as well as in Servia. The murder
of King Alexander, and the resignation of Count Khuen
Hedervary occurred within a brief space of each other : and
the latter event was marked by a distinct growth in Serb
national feeling. No one knew better than Mr. Accurti or
Dr. Frank ^^i that the reaction from the Khuen regime, when
the whole country breathed again after twenty years of the
" straight jacket " {see p. 155) was in no way influenced from
Belgrad, which at that time was entirely occupied by the
dynastic crisis and by the rising in Macedonia.
A further proof of treasonable intrigue was the possession
of King Peter's portrait, which is as popular among the Serb
population of Croatia aS those of William II or the Bavarian
Royal Family in German Bohemia or Tirol. Several prisoners
were accused of shouting " Long live King Peter " in the
streets ; and one, a shopkeeper, was charged with keeping
dynamite, though it transpired eventually that it was merely
used in small quantities for ordinary purposes of trade.^^^
Still more incredible, the indictment treats as " sympto-
matic " the assertion of an ignorant villager that the Virgin
Mary was a Serb, and the fact that a certain Servian officer,
a habitue in the small bath of Lipik, was invariably known
as " Mr. President." ^93
Above all, in the fact that the prisoners presume to call
themselves " Serbs," and not " Vlachs," ^94 the Public Prose-
29" Yet though this forms his principal argument, Accurti makes
on p. 14 of the indictment the astonishing admission that, " as early
as the year 1880 all these phenomena were visible ; it was known
that their source was in Belgrad, but the Government paid no attention
to them." What Khuen-Hedervary had tolerated for twenty years
suddenly became a danger to the State in 1906.
2*1 It subsequently transpired {see p. 307) that Mr. Accurti, in
composing the indictment, collaborated with the leaders of the Frank
party and used historical notes supplied by them.
2»2 Blasting, etc., in a country district.
293 Because he had been there so often. Cf. Masaryk, p. 24.
2** The word " Vlah " in the Croatian or Servian language, means
"a member of the Orthodox Church," but has the same offensive
sound about it as the word " Papist " as applied to Catholics. Need-
less to say, no Orthodox would dream of applying it to himself or a
co-religionist. The Frank party, who deny the existence of Serbs
182
A TRAVESTY OF JUSTICE
cutor pretended to find a proof of treasonable leanings, though
in so doing, he calmly ignores the fact that successive Habs-
burg Emperors conferred special national privileges upon
the Serb immigrants, and that even the present Emperor
has addressed more than one proclamation to " the Serb
nation." ^^^ The reader, unfamiliar with political conditions
in Hungary and Croatia, may marvel that such argumentation
could be put forward at all ; and indeed it takes some time
to realize that juggling with such phrases as " nation " and
" nationality " is habitual among all races of the Austro-Hun-
garian Monarchy. Reduced to its elements, the indictment
is a political tract, launched by one party against its rival —
an attempt on the part of the Frank party to ruin the Croato-
Serb Coalition.
An interval of six weeks elapsed between the publication
of the indictment and the opening of the Trial, which at last
began on March 3 in Agram, before a tribunal of seven judges.
Even the most declared opponents of the prisoners freely
admitted to me during the triaP^^ that these judges were
specially selected for the occasion by the Ranch Government,
and that neither as judges nor as private individuals did they
enjoy sufficient prestige to be entrusted with the most impor-
tant political trial in Croatia during modern times. Indeed
a prominent politicians^' actually assured me that the names
of the seven judges were proposed to Ranch by the judicial
department, in the deliberate belief that their appointment
would lead to a grave scandal and fiasco. WTiatever truth
there may be in this almost incredible assertion, there is no
doubt that the behaviour of the President, Mr. Tarabocchia,
and of the second judge, Mr. Pavesic was for weeks the talk
in Croatia, make a point of calling all Orthodox " Vlahi," meaning
thereby to be offensive and to suggest that the Serbs of Croatia are
really Wallach (i.e. Roumanian) immigrants. The fact that most
Roumanians are also Orthodox did lead in former centuries to the
two races being confused under the same name and the phrase " Wal-
lach Church " sometimes occurred. Philologists, however, are of
opinion that the word " Vlah " is derived from the old High German
word " wahla " (a foreigner speaking another tongue) akin to " walsch,"
" Wales," " Walloon."
"^ E.g. in 1848, see pp. 47-49.
*»' I spent over three weeks at Agram during the High Treason
trial and my impressions, during repeated visits to the court, con-
firmed all that I heard or read elsewhere.
=^" Who was not and is not an adherent of the Coalition.
THE AGRAM HIGH TREASON TRIAL
of Agram. Their nocturnal revels in the wineshops and cafes
of the capital were publicly branded by Professor Masaryk,
in his well-known speech in the Austrian Parliament.^^^
It is not my purpose to inflict upon the reader the inter-
minable and dreary annals of the Agram High Treason Trial,
which dragged on from March 5 till October, and which long
before its close had become fully as great a burden to its
authors as to its victims. From the very first it showed itself
to be one of the grossest travesties of justice in modem times ;
and he would be a bold man who would to-day attempt an
apology for the manner in which it was conducted. Lest,
however, I should be accused of taking anything for granted
without abundant proofs, I propose to summarize a few (but
only a few) of the more glaring illegalities of the Trial, under
four main headings.
I. The Preliminary Inquiry.
The juge d'instruction examined no fewer than 276 witnesses
for the prosecution, but not a single one out of the 300 pro-
posed by the defence. The hearing of these latter was refused,
and the Court informed the defence that they might renew
their application during the course of the trial. Thus the
proceedings had aheady lasted six months, before a single
witness for the defence had been admitted, and even then
only twenty were allowed, all the most important being rejected.
The preliminary inquiry had been conducted with such
carelessness, that at the main proceedings quite a number ol
witnesses for the prosecution denied having used the expressions
ascribed to them.
One of these, Tanasija Drpa, having obstinately adhered
to his denial on essential points, and having further asserted
that he had been examined in a drunken condition, was first
browbeaten by Mr. Tarabocchia and then arrested in court
on a charge of perjury. The President made no secret of the
fact that this was intended " pour encourager les autres,"
and warned the next witness that the same fate awaited him,
if he did not tell the truth. ^^^a
298 See Masaryk, Der Agramer Hochverraisprozess, p. 14. This
pamphlet is a reprint, with slight alterations, of the speech which
Professor Masaryk delivered in the Austrian ParUament on May 17,
1909.
298\ 43rd day.
184
INTIMIDATION OF WITNESSES
The witness Kriznjak denied having ever made the state-
ment ascribed to him, " that this country was Serb and must
fall to Servia," and said that the juge d' instruction had simply
ordered him to put his sign to a written deposition. When
warned by the Judge, he persisted in this statement. The assis-
tant juge d' instruction was then heard, and while not remember-
ing the details of Kriznjak's evidence, was certain that he
dictated it in the witness's own presence to the clerk Marijasevic.
Counsel for the defence here pointed out that though the witness
Kriznjak can neither read nor write, the first report contains
the statement that he saw in Gajic's house the inscription
" Long live Peter Karageorgevic." When the defence de-
manded that Marijasevic should also be heard, the presiding
Judge refused this as " superfluous," and ordered Kriznjak's
arrest on a charge of perjury. ^^^ On July lo he was actually
sentenced on that charge to ten months' imprisonment, though
absolutely no motive could be adduced for his perjury and
everything went to show that he was telling the truth.
The innkeeper Kordic not only denied having said what
was ascribed to him, but also maintained that during the
examination the juge d' instruction, Mr. Kosutic, had said to
him, that in Croatia there are no Serbs.^o"
Another innkeeper, named Louis Schmidt, who was put
on oath in spite of having been convicted of fraud, was accused
by two rival witnesses of having bragged that he was a Govern-
ment detective and would get 1,200 crowns for his services.
Schmidt, though he denied this, actually admitted having
received instructions from the Public Prosecutor to report
on events in the district of Topusko.^"^ When Dr. Hinkovic
inquired what Schmidt was living upon in Agram, Mr. Accurti,
in great excitement, protested against this question, and it
was disallowed by the President.
II. Treatment of the Defending Counsel.
At every turn Dr. Hinkovic and his colleagues were hampered
in their defence of the unfortunate Serbs. Not merely were
their formal applications for the hearing of witnesses over-
ruled in the most wholesale manner, and their efforts to obtain
evidence from Belgrad — rendered doubly difficult owing to
the strained relations with Servia — ^represented in the " in-
spired " press as savouring of treason. Day after day during
"9 48th day. =">» 54th day. '"i 40th day.
185
THE AGRAM HIGH TREASON TRIAL
the cross-examination the presiding Judge ruled out of order
the most essential questions to the witnesses ; and counsel's
protests against this injustice were repeatedly met by violent
outbursts of the Judge and the imposition of heavy fines.
That the defending counsel sometimes went too far in their
expression of indignation, is undoubtedly true ; but this
was almost inevitable in view of the restrictions imposed by
the President. As a fair specimen of the questions tabooed,
the following may be quoted. Nastic was asked by Dr.
Popovic, how he knew that the brothers Pribicevic had received
money from Servia.^"^ This, and literally scores of questions
relative to the crucial subject of the Slovenski Jug, were dis-
allowed by the President. One of the accused ^"^ put to a
hostile witness the question whether it was not true that he
(accused) had worked to promote Serbo-Croat friendship.
The President would not allow an answer.
Dr. Budisavljevic was fined 50 crowns for saying that it
was superfluous to draw his attention to a certain point. ^*
Dr. Popovic was fined 120 crowns on the ground that he was
bringing an unnecessary plea of nullity. ^°^ Dr. Medakovic
was fined 200 crowns for contending that the Judge was infring-
ing the Criminal Code, when he sentenced a prisoner to twenty-
four hours in a dark cell for refusing to answer a question.^"*
Dr. Mazzura was fined 100 crowns for clapping his hands at
a sharp sally of one of his colleagues.
Again Dr. Hinkovic, having elicited from Nasti6 the interest-
ing fact that he had not been put on oath at the Cetinje Treason
trial, was anxious to learn the reason for this ; but the Presi-
dent would not allow Nastic to answer.
One of the prisoners asserted that the juge d' instruction spoke
to him of King Peter as " a robber " ; but the President
stopped further reference to this. In short, while showing
no desire whatever to hasten the pace of the trial, and often
even allowing prolix examination, the President showed a
tendency to disallow most questions dealing with any really
vital points at issue, above all with the relations of the prisoners
to Belgrad and Servia.
III. Treatment of the Prisoners.
I have already referred to the grave scandals in the prison,
3" 105th day. 303 Borojevi(5, 35th day. ^o* ^^th day.
2"^ 15th day. 3"^ 32nd day.
186
TREATMENT OF THE PRISONERS
where a number of the accused Serbs were forced to share
the cells of condemned criminals. After the trial had akeady
begun, the second Judge, Mr. Pavesic, was entrusted with
the supervision of the prison : in other words, one of the
Judges received discretionary and disciphnary power over
the prisoners whom he was trying. It was not tiU aU the
counsel for the defence had submitted a joint protest to the
presiding Judge, that this decision was revoked.
Many of the prisoners had spent many months in confine-
ment before the trial opened, without any clear idea of the
charges which had led to their arrest. The long restraint,
the horrible uncertainty and their apparent abandonment
to their fate — coupled with anxiety as to the fate of families
whose means of subsistence had been removed — were not
without their effect. Five of them resorted in their despair
to a hunger strike, and Adam Pribicevic, his nerves utterly
unstrung, even made an unsuccessful attempt to take his
own hfe in prison. None the less, the spirit of the prisoners
was not broken, and in court they repelled the charges with
the greatest possible vigour, sometimes interpolating remarks
when a witness made what they regarded as an unfounded
assertion. Their bold protestations of innocence were highly
distasteful to the Court, and Mr. Tarabocchia raged against
them like a veritable Judge Jeffreys. The accused, who it
may be at once admitted, behaved in a childish and aggravating
manner, were treated from the first as naughty children ;
were repeatedly excluded from the proceedings in court on
the ground of " refractory behaviour," or were sentenced to
solitary confinement, to the dark cell, to fasting or to a board
bed. For instance, on the 19th day Adam Pribicevic inter-
rupted the Public Prosecutor with the remark, " The Slovenes
also have created their own institutions." He was promptly
excluded from the proceedings for a whole week. On the
41st day the same prisoner was banished from the court for
a fortnight, because he had caUed out something. On the
45th day Vukelic was shut out for the remainder of the trial,
on account of his noisy interruptions.
Once when I myself was present in court, one of the prisoners,
a consumptive whose appearance was lamentable, ventured
to protest when the Judge disallowed a very important question
directed by his counsel to the witness. Mr. Tarabocchia
sprang from his seat in great annoyance, the Bench withdrew
to a private room, and after a few minutes' interval the unfor-
187
THE AGRAM HIGH TREASON TRIAL
tunate man was sentenced for the third time to twenty-four
hours without food in a dark cell !
On the 28th day the Public Prosecutor charged Dr. Gjuric
with being a traitor, whereupon he replied, " You incriminate
even the Servian Saints ! " " It would be bad," retorted Mr.
Accurti, " if all Serbs were like you : for you are a traitor."
When Dr. Gjuric violently protested against this offensive
remark, the Court sentenced him to two days' fasting in a
dark cell.
On the 22nd day the prisoner Koncar suddenly called out
that a woman in the gallery was taunting him with mock signs
of a rope being placed round the neck. Instead of defending
the prisoners against such insults, the Judge sentenced Koncar
to three days' exclusion from the court and twenty-four
hours' dark cell ; and it was only when the woman greeted
Counsel's protests by a loud cry of " You are a liar," that Mr.
Tarabocchia requested her to withdraw.
On one occasion the prisoners loudly protested against the
help given by the President to an embarrassed witness. " Be-
have decently," cried the Public Prosecutor to them. " Behave
decently yourself," shouted back one of the prisoners. " Do
you think you're in your native village ? " said the President,
and sentenced him to forty-eight hours' detention in a dark
cell, with fasting and without a mattress to the bed, and to
exclusion from the proceedings for eight days. 3°'
Here was a case of definite impertinence, and it is clear
that a Court which tolerated such outbursts must soon cease
to command respect. Unhappily the outbursts of the prisoners
were the direct result of outrageous conduct on the part of
the Judge, and thus won the sympathy even of those who
would have been loudest in condemning such behaviour in a
properly conducted trial.
IV. The Evidence Allowed.
As we have seen, almost aU the witnesses proposed by the
defence were disallowed. The 270 witnesses brought by the
prosecution were mainly recruited from among the prisoners'
bitterest political opponents. Almost all were men who
refused to recognize the existence of Serbs in Croatia, and
these were supposed to give impartial evidence against the
fifty-three Serbs ! A number of them were rival tradesmen,
50^ 36th day.
188
THE EVIDENCE ALLOWED
who had suffered from the prisoners' successful competition.
With certain exceptions, their standard of education was
low, some being entirely illiterate. Two instances suffice to
show how worthless was their opinion on political matters.
One witness, when asked if he considered the accused to be
loyal, replied, " How can they be loyal to the King, when
they're against the Government ? " 308 ^ female witness,
who convulsed the Court by her evidence, was so ignorant
as to talk of " Raf " instead of Ranch, and " Daramit " instead
of dynamite. 2°^
Some idea of the childishness and absurdity of the evidence
brought forward in proof of treasonable agitation, may be
obtained from the following instances.
Great stress was laid upon the popularity of King Peter's
portrait. A witness affirmed on oath that he had seen in
the prisoner 2ivkovic's house a picture with the inscription
" Petar Jurisic, Kralj Srbije" — "Peter Jurisic, King of Servia."3io
Another prisoner, an innkeeper, explained that he had had
in the taproom a portrait of Gambrinus, whom the peasants
mistook for King Peter.^^^
Another witness who spoke of King Peter's portrait, ad-
mitted having seen it in Hrvatski Novosti, the farthing news-
sheet of the anti-Serb Party. ^" Mojo Hrvacanin, who
during the campaign of 1876 had saved the life of Peter Kara-
georgevic, was treated as a suspect because his old friend
had received him in audience after his accession to the throne
of Servia.
Ljubomir Milic, a tailor in Glina, was examined by the
President. " You trod on a dog's tail," said he, " and when
the dog howled, you said, ' How that Croat whines ! ' "
Accused : "In the first place the dog had no tail ! Secondly
it is untrue that I called the dog a Croat." President : " But
the witnesses say you did." Accused : " I only asked, ' Is
the dog a Croat, I wonder, as you make out there are only
Croats in Croatia ? ' The question was a joke." Solvuntur
tabulae nsu.
Dr. Gjuric was seriously asked by one of the Bench whether
his real reason for not wearing a collar was that the word
" cravat " was derived from " Croat." The accused replied
that this was merely ridiculous, and the public not unnaturally
agreed with him. But the Public Prosecutor solemnly declared,
30* 57th day. ^o* 40th day. »io 38th day.
'" 33rd and 39th days. "^ ^^^j^ ^jg^y^
189
THE AGRAM HIGH TREASON TRIAL
" There's nothing to laugh at there ! It is proved that as a
student you objected to wearing a collar, simply out of hatred
towards the Croatian nation." ^^^ When, however, one of the
prisoners suggested that the witness Rebraca could not be
a good Croat, because he wore no collar, the President threatened
him with punishment. ^^^
V. Behaviour of the Presiding Judge.
It is not too much to say that Mr. Tarabocchia's behaviour
during the trial baffles description, A man of slight build,
highly nervous manner and unhealthy complexion, he gives
the impression of an excitable avocat, not of a judge. Where
there should be calm and dignity, there is continuous and
spasmodic movement. No one who watched him in court
could fail to be struck with the open manner in which he
espoused the side of the prosecution.
Not content with excluding or punishing the prisoners, he
took every opportunity of threatening them. When the
prisoner Oblakovic replied to a question with the words, " I
can't help laughing," the President replied, " I'll impose a
disciplinary punishment, so that you may forget how to
laugh." 315
Another day he called out to the accused, " Take care
that you don't have to fast at Easter ! " si^ p^-^^ again, " If
even one of you budges, out he flies ! " si? When one of the
witnesses revoked his alleged evidence at the preliminary
examination, and was thrown into prison for perjury, Mr.
Tarabocchia warned the next witness in a menacing tone
that he too would be arrested, if he failed to tell the truth.
Often enough he contrived to " suggest " to the witnesses
their answers, and in this he was manfully assisted by the
second Judge, Mr. Pavesic. Prosecution and defence were
treated in an entirely different manner. While, for instance,
he forbade the defence to criticise the Public Prosecutor, ^is
he declared that it was inadmissible " to emphasize the inno-
cence of the accused ! " 3i9 According to his mood, he punished
them or had his joke at their expense. He ordered Valerian
Pribicevic to remove a rose from his buttonhole : he shouted
the word " Silence " across the Court ; he forbade one of the
defending counsel, Dr. Solaric, to address his own father, who
was one of the prisoners, in the second person ^20 : he dismissed
31' 28th day. 31* 49th day. ^is ^ist day. 3i6 26th day.
3" 55th day. 318 yth day. 3i» 26th day. «»> 29th day.
190
THE JUDGES' BEHAVIOUR
Dr. Hinkovic's questions as " gammon " 321 . j^g forbade counsel
to shake hands with their cHents when the Court rose.322 When
Oblakovic declared that his conscience was clear, the President
rejoined, " Very well, just sit down with your clear con-
science ! " ^3 " You've had your lunch," he cried one day :
" after it you're always obstreperous." 22^ One day another
prisoner protested against the evidence of a man whose father
was a criminal and whose two uncles had been hanged ; and
when ordered to be silent, announced a plea of nullity. " Put
in as many as you like," said the Judge. " You look like a
plea of nullity yourself." ^25 The prisoner Bekic complained
of the vague reference in the indictment to " phenomena "
of high treason. " You're a phenomenon yourself," said
the Judge. " Yes," cried the prisoner plaintively, " and this
phenomenon has been sitting nine months in preventive
arrest ! " ^28
The President's ready wit was worthy of a better occasion :
it certainly was singularly inappropriate at a momentous
political trial. The other judges, selected for their sub-
servience, were in no way qualified for their task, and made
a most unfavourable impression upon observers in court.
The Public Prosecutor, on the other hand, was elegant and
cultured, but his cynical and negligent air was replaced
from time to time by menace and intimidation. On the 7th
day he said of Adam Pribicevic : " If he had a clear
conscience, he would not be sitting here." On the 23rd
day he interrupted the prisoner Kacar with the words, " That
is a lie." On the 46th day he told another prisoner, " At the
end of the trial, you will see how serious your situation is."
The best that can be said of him, is that he showed far more
restraint and good taste than any of the judges.
One gross scandal has still to be added to this plethora of
scandals. During the course of the trial. Dr. Hinkovic, the
leading advocate for the defence, and his colleague. Dr. Budi-
savljevic, went to Belgrad to collect material in their clients'
interest, and immediately on their arrival informed the Austro-
Hungarian Minister, Count Forgach, of their business. On
the way home to Agram Dr. Budisavljevic was stopped, at
the frontier station of Semlin, and searched by the police.
All his papers were seized. Later on the Public Prosecutor
"1 39th day. 322 14th day. "3 ^jg^ day. 224 29th day.
*" 57th day. "8 53th day.
191
■ THE AGRAM HIGH TREASON TRIAL
produced Dr. Budisavlj evil's notes as evidence against the
prisoners. When the defence protested, the Court declared
that it was quite immaterial how the Public Prosecutor had
come into possession of his proofs ! Needless to say, whatever
was favourable to the prisoners in these notes was carefully
suppressed, only such things were used as could be twisted
into an admission of their guilt.
The main object was to prevent any assistance reaching
the prisoners from Belgrad, and indirectly to warn possible
Servian witnesses of the dangers to which they would expose
themselves, if they came to give evidence in Agram. This
incident in itself is a vivid illustration of the complete absence
of constitutional life in Croatia.
*****
The grave scandals of the Agram trial found an echo through-
out the European Press, and Croatia, so long forgotten by the
outside world, acquired an unwelcome notoriety. On May
14, 1909, the distinguished Bohemian philosopher and politician.
Professor Masaryk, brought forward an interpellation on the
subject in the Austrian Parliament, and in a powerful speech
exposed the misdeeds of Baron Ranch and his creatures, and
emphasized their evil effects upon the whole policy of Austria-
Hungary upon its southern frontier. Professor Masaryk did
not mince matters, and spoke quite openly of the notorious
misconduct of some of the judges. One result of the speech,
which naturally caused a great sensation, was that the Presi-
dent of the High Court in Agram strictly prohibited Mr. Tara-
bocchia and his colleagues on the Bench from frequenting
public places at night, so long as the trial continued ! ! ^27
The speech was received by a chorus of the most virulent
abuse from the organs of Baron Ranch and Dr. Frank. Narodne
Novine, the official Government gazette, described Professor
Masaryk as "a vulgar parrot." Ustavnost, calmly ignoring
his European reputation, wrote as follows in an article entitled
" Pan Masaryk." " A certain Masaryk, of whom nothing
is known in Croatia save that he is the father of our Pro-
gressives . . . this Czech, who is nothing but a Pan-Slav agent
provocateur in Servian sheepskin . . . had the boundless
insolence to attack our judges in a manner which baffles criti-
cism, for no dictionary contains the right expression for such
behaviour." The juge d' instruction, Dr. Kosutic, actually
3" Masaryk, op. cit. p. 37, note.
192
BARON RAUCH'S OFFICIAL PRESS
published the following statement : "I shall not have your
speech in my hands for another forty-eight hours. I declare
you beforehand to be a blackguard, a ragamuffin, a man
without honour, a nobody, the refuse of human society."
On May 24, these scurrilities were endorsed by the Agramer
Zeitung, Baron Ranch's other organ ! I do not apologize
for reproducing them, for they show more clearly than any-
thing else the type of men upon whom Baron Rauch found
it necessary to rely.
Needless to say, Baron Rauch spared no efforts to muzzle
the Croatian press during the course of the trial. While all
the leading newspapers of Europe gave great prominence to
the scandals of the Rauch regime and of Mr. Tarabocchia's
conduct of the trial, the official organs of Baron Rauch were
engaged in a campaign of calumny against the prisoners,
the defence and all who dared to espouse its cause, and " the
control of Europe " was laughed to scorn as a device of the
Freemasons, engineered by Dr. Hinkovic, the prisoners'
brilliant advocate. Confiscations were endless ; Pokret
and Srbobran alone were seized close upon a hundred
times under Baron Rauch. On June 26, 1909, Obzor was
actually confiscated for publishing the official communique
of the conference of the Croato-Serb Coalition ; and all the
other Agram papers were obliged to omit the essential portions
of this document, though the Budapest papers which had
reproduced it were left untouched by the Croatian Public
Prosecutor. This was a little too strong even for the Magyars
— ^who in their own relations to the unhappy non-Magyar
races, employ, instead of confiscation, the less sensational
though equally effective methods of fine and imprisonment.
The Pester Lloyd even published an article under the title of
" Russian Press Censorship in Croatia " ; but this naturally
did not deter Baron Rauch from hindering the legal majority
of the Sabor in the expression of its views.
We have already seen in the case of Professors Surmin and
Manojlovic how readily Baron Rauch vented personal grudges.
A less important but still more characteristic instance of this
was the treatment of a local town councillor, who was sen-
tenced to three days' imprisonment, because at a meeting of
the Council he had referred to Rauch as an " exponent " of
Magyar policy, in other words because he had employed the
very phrase used by the Hungarian Premier, Dr. Wekerle.
How little personal freedom was respected under Rauch,
S.S.Q. 193 O
THE ANNEXATION OF BOSNIA " "
was illustrated in a drastic manner by the arrest of Mr. Schlegel,
sub-editor of the Progressive organ Pokret. After a particu-
larly outrageous incident in the High Treason trial, Mr.
Schlegel handed in at the central Post Office in Agram a pri-
vate telegram to Professor Masaryk, describing briefly what
had happened. The same day he was arrested and thrown
into prison, on a charge of " public incitement against the
authorities." There he remained for a fortnight, until the
Higher Court ordered his release, without comment or apology.
Even more notorious was the treatment of Father Mathew
Novosel, a member of the Croatian Diet, who on the occasion
of the Ban's visit to Brod on June 15, 1909, was unwise enough
to call out " Down with Ranch." For this " treasonable "
action he was promptly arrested by gendarmes, detained for
eight hours, and eventually sentenced to fourteen days'
imprisonment without the option of a fine, his parliamentary
immunity being simply ignored. Twenty-six other persons
were sentenced for similar equally harmless demonstrations.
It lies beyond the scope of the present volume to describe
the course of events during the protracted Bosnian Crisis of
1908-1909. But a brief summary is inevitable, in order that
the reader may be in a position to understand the intimate
connexion between events in Croatia and the annexation
policy of Baron Aehrenthal.
The annexation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, following
closely upon the declaration of Bulgarian independence, had
caused intense excitement in Servia, where political phantasts
had fancied themselves to possess a reversionary interest in
the two provinces. In addition to their other misfortunes,
the Servians of the Kingdom have an unhappy tendency to
exaggerate their own capabilities, and to underestimate those
of their opponents ; and on this occasion public opinion rashly
favoured a challenge to the second military power of the
Continent.
The recruits were called out, and loud threats of war were
uttered ; but on October 10 the Skupstina had sufficient self-
restraint and sanity to decide against war by 93 to 66 votes.
The friction which had so long prevailed between Servia and
Montenegro vanished in view of the crisis, and General Vukotid
was sent to Belgrad as a special envoy of Prince Nicholas. His
detention by Baron Ranch's police on his way through Agram
194
SERVIA'S CLAIMS
was treated by Servian public opinion as a deliberate insult ;
and there can be little doubt that its aim was provocative. The
Servian claims began to take definite shape ; much was heard
of an " irreducible minimum," consisting of (a) the cession of
a strip of territory connecting Servia and Montenegro and {b)
the grant of autonomy to Bosnia. Crown Prince George
went to St. Petersburg, in the hope of inducing the Czar to
take up the cudgels for Servia ; and a leading Belgrad news-
paper went so far as to declare that " now or never is the
moment for trying conclusions with a mediaeval state on the
point of dissolution." ^^^ Meanwhile Russia and the Western
Powers adopted the attitude that Austria-Hungary and
Bulgaria had, by their one-sided action, infringed an inter-
national agreement, and that only an European conference
could ratify the changes involved. Baron Aehrenthal, while
raising no objection to the summons of a Conference, declined
to admit that " the accomplished fact could be questioned
there or even made the subject of discussion." 329
The press — alike in Belgrad, Vienna, Berlin, Paris and
London — fanned the growing irritation ; changes of perfidy,
intrigue and illegality were bandied about between the various
capitals. Above all, Baron Aehrenthal succeeded in mobiliz-
ing the entire press of Vienna (with one exception) in favour
of his policy. A notable feature of this press campaign were
the systematic attacks upon Britain, as the spiritus movens
of the whole opposition. As a single instance of the absurdities
served up for the consumption of the Austrian public, may
be quoted the statement of an otherwise sensible newspaper
that Mr. Noel Buxton had paid for Servian armaments, by
handing over £4,000 in gold ! ^so
Serbophil demonstrations and rioting took place in Prague,
and the sixtieth anniversary of the Emperor's accession
(December 2) was celebrated in the Bohemian capital by the
proclamation of martial law. Turkish opinion had in no
way been mollified by the cession of the Sandjak ; and a
328 Politika, October 26, 1908.
329 Speech in the Austrian Delegation, Budapest, October 27.
330 As The Times correspondent caustically remarked (November
30), "the comic organs will soon be entitled to complain of unfair
official competition." As a matter of fact, this yarn was outbid by
a report of the Zeit (December 3), said to be current in Austrian par-
liamentary circles, to the effect that " during the last few weeks a
Viennese bank has transmitted ;^i, 500,000 of English money in checjueg
to Servia ! "
J95
THE ANNEXATION OF BOSNIA
serious boycott of Austrian goods was organized in all the
ports of European and Asiatic Turkey. Baron Aehrenthal
held resolutely to the view that a conference could only register
the fait accompli, but agreed to a preliminary exchange of
views with the Powers (December lo), and found it necessay
to abandon the argument that Turkey was not entitled to
any further compensation. Negotiations were opened between
Vienna and Constantinople on the basis of a Turkish demand
for money compensation (December 21).
The publication of the Russian Circular Note to the signa-
tories of the Congress of Berlin (December 24) was regarded
in Vienna as an unfriendly act. It certainly marked the
adoption of a more aggressive policy by Mr. Isvolsky, round
whose personal duel with Baron Aehrenthal the European
crisis tended more and more to revolve. His speech in the
Duma on Christmas Day (New Style) was a veiled appeal to
the rising tide of Panslavism in Russia. While admitting
Russia's engagements in the matter of Bosnia, ^^i and arguing
that a protest was a grave political blunder unless its author
was prepared if necessary to resort to force, he laid renewed
emphasis on the need for a conference, in order to vindicate
the axiom that international contracts cannot be broken save
by consent of all parties. He concluded by openly advocating
a league between Turkey and the Christian states of the Balkans
for the joint defence of their national and economic develop-
ment. ^22
Mr. Isvolsky's speech was followed a week later by the
speech of Dr. Milovanovic, the Servian Foreign Minister
(January 2, 1909). He declared the fate of Bosnia to be not
merely an eminently Servian, but also an European question,
and argued that the mission of Austria-Hungary in the Balkan
Peninsula was now at an end. " The freedom," he added,
" which the Balkan peoples won from 1812 to 1876, they
obtained through Russia, while Austria-Hungary's first step
in the Balkans consisted in subjecting the people of two Serb
lands, . . , The path of Austria-Hungary to the Aegean
Sea must be blocked. She must cease to be a Balkan State."
Becoming more conciliatory, he argued that it was not neces-
sary to drive Servia into a struggle of despair ; for " if Aus-
tria-Hungary would fulfil her mission as a link between the
331 Viz. the Budapest Convention of 1S77 ^^^ the Berhn Declaration
of T878.
332 ximes December 27.
196
AUSTRO-RUSSIAN RIVALRY
Germanic Latin and Slav peoples," Servia's interests could be
reconciled with her own and all the Balkan states could gather
round her. But the Danube and the Save must at all costs
remain the legal boundary between the Habsburg Monarchy
and the Balkans. The following day the Skupstina passed
an unanimous resolution, which formulated as the sole guaran-
tees of Servia's political and economic independence, the
erection of Bosnia into a vassal state under the Sultan's suze-
rainty and the grant of a territorial link between Servia and
Montenegro.
It was only to be expected that such language should be
ill-received in Vienna, where from the first there had been
an undue tendency to ignore Servia's vital stake in all questions
affecting her Western frontier and to deny any moral claim
arising either from racial aihnity or from wars which she
had waged in defence of Bosnian interests. Nor was any
allowance made for the difficult situation of a Minister
who had to interpret the national sentiment without chal-
lenging that of a neighbouring power. The bad impression
was increased by a misleading translation of one of the
crucial phrases, in which Milovanovic was represented as
having said that Austria had " enslaved," not " subjected,"
the two provinces. Count Forgach, the Austro-Hungarian
Minister at Belgrad, was instructed to make inquiries as to
the correct version ; and the Foreign Minister's reply, that
his speech had no aggressive tendency, merely increased the
difficulty of his position and inflamed still further the warlike
feeling at Belgrad.
On January 9 the Austrian offer of T. £2,500,000 to Turkey
as indemnity for the annexation, was accepted by the Grand
Vizier, and, after a little delay, endorsed by the Cabinet and
by Parliament. The former suzerain had thus been induced
to relinquish his rights, and Baron Aehrenthal scored an
important point.
On February 2 Mr. Isvolsky parried with the Russian pro-
posal for a Turko-Bulgarian settlement, by which Russia
agreed to liquidate the Turkish war indemnity of 1882 and
Bulgaria took up a loan of 82,000,000 francs, paying moderate
interest upon it to the Russian Treasury. This ingenious
arrangement took Vienna by surprise, and was not unnaturally
regarded there as a Pan-Slavistic device for attracting Bulgaria
once more into the orbit of St. Petersburg. It also encouraged
Servia to fresh exertions, and on February 5 a credit of
197
THE ANNEXATION OF BOSNIA
33,500,000 francs for armaments was adopted by the Skup-
stina. The war fever in Belgrad continued. The Servian
press lost all self-restraint, and also all sense of proportion.
" Either Europe must concede our demands," v^ioie PoUtika,^^^
"or it will come to a fearful and bloody war." The situation
seemed to be going from bad to worse. On the part of
Austria-Hungary a powerful and obstinate Minister, unwUling
to admit his faulty tactics ; an " inspired " press, suffering
from a severe attack of Jingo sentiment ; a network of secret
intrigues at Court, clerical, military, political, racial, personal ;
on the part of Russia, an irresponsible desire to score off a
detested rival ; on the part of the Western Powers, a doc-
trinaire outlook, combined with irresolution and laisser faire ;
on the part of Servia a complete lack of balance, a refusal to
reckon with the realities of the situation, an inclination to
stake the country's future upon a gambler's throw. Mean-
while, clumsily as he had managed the actual step of annexa-
tion, it must be admitted that Baron Aehrenthal himself
showed very considerable restraint, even when his organs
in the press were most aggressive. Rival diplomats conceded
his faculty for " sitting tight " and awaiting developments.
But now significant ballons d'essai found their way into the
Neue Freie Presse and other important newspapers. The
question of an European mandate to Austria-Hungary for
the occupation of Servia was, it was alleged, already under
consideration : for the growth of Servian armaments and
the impossibility of massing troops on the Bosnian frontier
for an indefinite period, rendered some such step inevitable.
Samouprava, the official organ of the Servian Government,
retorted with a long communique, '^^'^ protesting against the
attacks of the Vienna and Budapest press, and treating as a
gross insult to Servia the idea of a punitory expedition, such,
as is only made against wild robber tribes." It appealed to
the signatory Powers of Berlin, and roundly declared that
any such action would be " a brutal and uncalled-for onslaught
upon Servia, meant to provide a cynical pretext for realizing
the second stage in Austria-Hungary's scheme of Balkan
conquest, according to which Servia figures as the next object
of plunder after Bosnia and Herzegovina." The new Servian
Coalition Cabinet, under Stojan Novakovic (February 23)
continued its preparations, and an open rupture seemed in
333 February 6, igog. ^^* February 22. j»
198
WAR SEEMS INEVITABLE
sight, when the Powers, on the initiative of France, made
joint representations at Belgrad, urging Servia not to insist
on her territorial demands. As no change occurred in the
situation, Count Forgach, acting on instructions from Vienna,
expressed the hope that Servia was prepared to follow the
advice of the Powers and change her attitude on the Bosnian
question. He added that until Servia intimated to Vienna her
desire for friendly relations, no steps could be taken to lay
the Servian commercial treaty before the Parliaments of the
Dual Monarchy (March 6). Servia left Count Forgach's note
unanswered for ten days, but meanwhile (March lo) issued a
Circular Note to the Powers, disclaiming all desire to provoke
war but reaffirming its view that the Bosnian question is
European. In short, Servia placed its case unreservedly in
the hands of the Powers as the competent tribunal, " and
therefore demands from Austria-Hungary no compensation,
territorial, political or economic." The Servian reply to
Forgach, when it did come (March 14), was politely evasive,
and was regarded in Vienna as inadequate. On March 17
Russia replied to the official intimation of the Austro-Turkish
agreement by insisting that this in no way averted the neces-
sity for a Conference : and despite the increasing energy with
which the three Western Powers urged pacific counsels in
Belgrad, Mr. Isvolsky's step was widely regarded as materially
increasing the chances of war. As stronger pressure was
brought to bear upon Servia, and as the latter's statesmen
showed signs of yielding. Baron Aehrenthal's manner seemed
to become stiff er and more uncompromising. The Austrian
Premier, Baron Bienerth, spoke of the untenable situation
on the frontier : the Joint Army was mobiUzed and over
200,000 troops were poured into the occupied provinces. The
Austrian press was not unnaturally full of articles on military
and strategic subjects. The outbreak of war appeared to be
only a question of days.
At this critical moment (March 24 and 25) two long inter-
views with " an Austro-Hungarian Politician in Belgrad,"
couched in language of thinly veiled menace, appeared in the
Neue Freie Presse. Both bore many signs of their origin in
the Belgrad Legation, and supplied the first public clue to the
campaign of calumny and forgery associated with the names
of Vasic and Swientochowski. In the first a reference was
made to Servia's intrigues in Budapest and to her " suspicious
connexions with the Serbo-Croat CoaUtion, whose intimacy
199
THE ANNEXATION OF BOSNIA
is still by no means known in its entirety." Servian money,
it was alleged, was working in Laibach and Prague. In the
second it was made clear that the Monarchy would not be
satisfied with " a half-success," and that Servia's " Pater
Peccavi " {sic) must be said direct to Vienna, not through
any intermediary.
In the same number as the first of these interviews there
appeared an article entitled " Austria-Hungary and Servia,"
from the pen of Dr. Henry Friedjung, the well-known Austrian
historian, written in a most uncompromising style and full
of the gravest imputations against the Servian Government
and dynasty and their alleged accomplices among the leading
politicians of Croatia. Based as it was upon documentary
evidence which could only have been supplied by the Ballplatz
at its chief's express orders, the article naturally made a deep
impression upon the public for which it was intended, and
was regarded in diplomatic circles as indicating the lines upon
which Baron Aehrenthal proposed to justify the impending
occupation of Servia. As a matter of fact it had been intended
as merely the first of a series of articles, in which a long array
of original documents should have proved the aggressive
purpose and scandalous intrigues of the Servian Government,
thus fatally compromising it in the eyes of Europe. Two
days previously similar charges had appeared in the Reichspost,
the well-known organ of the Christian Socialist Party in Vienna.
On the very day when this article was published, two events
occurred which transformed the international situation.
Crown Prince George, who had been the life and soul of the
war party in Servia, abdicated his right to the Throne, in
consequence of the widespread rumours which charged him
with having mortally injured his valet in a fit of passion.
The German Ambassador in St. Petersburg asked to be informed
of Russia's intentions ; and Mr. Isvolsky, faced by the pros-
pect of Germany's mobilization in aid of her ally, suddenly
expressed his readiness to recognize the annexation of Bosnia.
The Servian Government, realizing that in the event of war
Montenegro would be its only ally, saw no alternative but to
submit. On March 27, Servia gave a definite proof of pacific
intentions by dismissing the reserves : and three days later,
acting on the collective advice of France, Britain, Italy and
Russia, addressed to Austria-Hungary a Note, in which
she recognized the " fait accompli created in Bosnia " as "in
no way affecting her rights," and promised to abandon the
200
THE END OF THE CRISIS
attitude of protest which she had maintained since the previous
autumn, to resume neighbourly relations with the Dual
Monarchy, and to restore her army to its ordinary peace footing.
The international crisis was thus at an end, and on April 9
the Great Powers intimated at Vienna their formal recognition
of the annexation. The last mutterings of the storm died
away when Austria-Hungary consented to abrogate Article
XXIX of the Treaty of Berlin and thus to remove the last
trammels upon Montenegrin sovereignty. There remained,
however, the internal crisis in Croatia, which owed its origin
in great measure to what unscrupulous and blundering diplo-
mats conceived to be the necessities of foreign policy, and
whose evil influences reacted upon all the provinces of the
Slavonic South. So far as Baron Aehrenthal was concerned,
the hunt for traitors had ceased to have an object on the day
when the annexation was recognized. The real value of the
Agram trial had been calculated for the period when the army
had crossed the Servian frontier, when the existence of a Pan-
Serb conspiracy would justify the proclamation of martial
law in Croatia, and when the publication of highly compromis-
ing documents would destroy all sympathy in Europe for
" the nest of bandits " in Belgrad. But the evil spirits which
he had invoked could not be so easily dispelled. Though
Baron Aehrenthal's motive for continuing the trial was now
gone, the motives of the Hungarian Government and of
Baron Ranch were more pressing than ever. Persecution,
instead of destroying, seemed to be cementing Croato-Serb
unity and rallying all Croatia against Magyar pretensions.
The Hungarian Coalition, now tottering to its fall, was more
than ever conscious that Croatia formed the Achilles' heel
of Hungary, more than ever determined to break the power
of the rival Coalition in Croatia. Baron Ranch, furious at
his own failure and hopelessly compromised by his clumsy
choice of tools, saw his sole hope of continuance in office in
the triumph of the Magyar cause. The High Treason trial,
with all its attendant scandals, was therefore allowed to con-
tinue at Agram : indeed, its " abolition," after it had attained
such notoriety, would have constituted a far greater scandal
and would have aroused the very suspicions which it was
desired to avert.
Had Dr. Friedjung's article never appeared, the true nature
of the conspiracy against Croatia might never have trans-
pired : and the whole affair might have flickered out with
201
THE ANNEXATION OF BOSNIA
a grave miscarriage of justice in a Croatian court, speedily
to be forgotten by the outside world. But the grave nature
of the charges, the deservedly high reputation of their author
as a historian and as a man of honour, the political interests
involved, above all the patent fact that documents and infor-
mation alike had been placed at the historian's disposal by
the Foreign Office itself — all this would have made it impossible
for the matter to be hushed up, even if Ranch's official press
and his unofficial supporters in the Frank party had not made
it the signal for a fresh campaign of calumny. The Coalition
leaders realized, perhaps for the first time, the full strength
of the forces arrayed against them, and for that very reason
felt that they must fight to the bitter end.
Dr. Friedjung's article, leading as it did to the famous
trial of December, 1909, and to the exposure of Count
Aehrenthal's diplomatic methods, may fairly be described
as one of the most important landmarks in the develop-
ment of the Southern Slav question ; and therefore I make
no apology for analysing it in considerable detail.
The article begins by describing Servia's insolent attitude
towards the Dual Monarchy as unparalleled in modern history,
and as due to disappointment at the failure of long years of
intrigue in Bosnia. In view of the outcry raised in Belgrad,
it is high time to expose the conspiracy " against us," which
began with the murder of King Alexander in June, 1903.
The new King had grown up in an atmosphere of plots and
had pledged himself in writing to the leader of the murderous
gang. This document, quoted as authentic by Dr. Fried] ung,
ran as follows : "I, Prince Peter Karageorgevitch, swear
by my honour, that so long as I and my heirs are on the Servian
throne, the conspirators and their heirs shall not only not
be proceeded against before the law, but rather that the highest
positions in the country shall be assured to them." The
successful conspirators aimed at " erecting a Great Servian
Empire on the ruins of Austrian and Turkish rule," and in
1905 conceived the idea of helping the Magyar Party of Inde-
pendence in the struggle for an independent Hungary. Bosnia
was to be the Servian share of the spoils. " Hence from
Belgrad was constituted the Serbo-Croatian Coalition, which
was intended as a link between the aspirations for the separa-
tion of Hungary and of Bosnia from the Habsburg Monarchy.
These fantasies were dissipated, it is true, in consequence of
the pact concluded by the Part}^ of Independence in April,
202
DR. FRIED JUNG'S ARTICLE
1906, with the Emperor Francis Joseph ; but there remained
one welcome result for the Pan-Serb leaders. For the kernel
of the Serbo-Croatian Coalition, the Serb Independent Party,
remained in permanent connexion with Belgrad, took its
watchword from there ; and large presents of money to influ-
ential Serbs in South Hungary and Croatia nourished the
alliance thus concluded." As a proof of this grave charge,
Dr. Friedjung adduces a confidential Report, written in 1907
by Dr. Spalajkovic, under-secretary in the Servian Foreign
Office, to his chief, describing his meeting with a certain Coali-
tion deputy ^^ at Semlin. " The noble Serb from South Hun-
gary " demanded 50,000 francs, but finally, in return for 12,000
in cash, agreed to place five newspapers of the Serb Inde-
pendent party at the disposal of the Servian Government !
The report contained the further statement that Supilo had
advised the Servian Premier, Dr. Pasic, to spend his summer
holiday on the Croatian coast, so as to be in touch with " poli-
tical friends." " Should the sectional chief or the Servian
Government dispute any of these assertions, they would be
supplied with further details, and the names of bribed deputies
could be given, as also the sums supplied to them out of
the money of the Servian state,"
One of the chief instruments of the conspiracy is the Club
Slovenski Jug ^^^ in Belgrad, whose dealings with bombs and
dynamite were partially exposed at the Cetinje Treason trial.
The bombs seized in Montenegro are known to have been
manufactured in the Servian arsenal of Kragujevac, under
the special supervision of Nenadovic, a relative of King Peter ;
and Prince Nicholas at any rate believed his grandson George
of Servia to be privy to the plot for removing a rival Serb
dynasty. A letter of Spalajkovic to a Montenegrin friend
is then cited, lamenting the suspicion with which Dr. Pasic
is regarded in Cetinje ; and that statesman's share in the plot
against Montenegro is assumed to be one of the main causes
of friction between the two Serb states.
" Should it be ordained," continues Dr. Friedjung, " that
the Austrian arms shall thoroughly purge Belgrad of the nest
of conspirators and help the healthy elements of the Servian
people to triumph, this would be a civilizing deed of great
^2* Dr. Friedjung suppressed the name, because he did not wish
to supply proofs for the Agram trial. See infra, p. 225.
3'« See pp. 167-170.
203
THE ANNEXATION OF BOSNIA
value — not merely an advantage for the Austro-Hungarian
Monarchy, but also the liberation of a whole people from a
company of conspirators divided among themselves and sowing
evil on every hand, while they plunder the Servian state during
the purchase of armaments and the preparations for war." ^^^
" Deep, however, as is the rottenness of the Servian state, it
is not the office of a Great Power to act as controller of morals
(Sittenpolizei) on her frontiers. But it is her duty to assure
the safety of her own frontiers."
The article then deals with the Slovenski Jug's agitation
in Bosnia and the " important material " supplied by one of
its emissaries to the Austro-Hungarian Government in August,
1908.338 " It is a sorry trade which this Nastic pursued, and
one can only handle the fellow with gloves, or better with the
tongs. He makes no secret of the fact that the Montenegrin
Government paid money for his treachery towards his com-
rades ; and if he denies having likewise received payment
from the Ban of Croatia, let him who will, believe this. But
that is a matter of indifference in judging the facts." Dr.
Fried jung then treats the existence of the " Revolutionary
Statute " {see p. 169) in Milan Pribicevic's own handwriting,
as a conclusive proof of the conspiracy ; but while emphasizing
the project of " a league of Southern Slav Republics," he
seems completely to forget that he is thereby demolishing
the theory that the Servian dynasty was at the head of the
movement. He condemns the onesided attacks made at
the Agram trial " upon the Serb nationality as such," and
admits that a perusal of the indictment suggests that Ranch's
government is using its opportunity " to strike a deadly blow
at the Coalition." But while not blind to the evil side of the
trial, he holds that stern measures were necessary, in order
to sever the threads with Belgrad. He gives further details
of the Pan-Serb propaganda in Bosnia, and of the control
exercised by Spalajkovic over the Bosnian press ; and he
asserts that the accounts of Slovenski Jug show 15,000 francs
to have been sent from Belgrad during the communal elections
at Sarajevo in 1908.
The remainder of the article deals with an alleged league
between the Young Turk Committee and the Slovenski Jug,
33* This and othw passages show signs of another hand.
33^ In other words, after the publication of Finale and during his
visit to Agram with Sporcic.
204
INTRIGUES OF THE BALLPLATZ
for the contingency of war with Austria-Hungary. When the
Austro-Hungarian Consul-General in Salonica was instructed
to inform the Committee of the intention to grant a constitu-
tion to Bosnia, he received " the deeply insulting answer,
that Austro-Hungary did not possess the right, . . . which
lay solely in the hands of the lawful sovereign the Sultan."
This incident and the danger of Bosnian deputies appearing
in Stambul, combined with the Pan-Serb propaganda to
render the annexation inevitable, and forced Baron Aehrenthal
to place Turkey before a fait accompli. Before acting, how-
ever, he broached the matter with Russia and Italy, offering
to concede to the former the free passage of the Dardanelles ;
and at his meeting with Mr. Isvolsky in Buchlau (September 15,
igo8) it had been arranged to the two statesmen's mutual
satisfaction. The attitude of the Viennese Cabinet was that
of a rocher de bronze, against which " the loosely-knit Servian
state " could easily be shattered.
This singular article, from the pen of the foremost Austrian
historian, appeared at a moment when, in the words of the
leading article, ^^a " the decision as to war and peace is on
the razor's edge," and when, " unless to-morrow or at latest
on the day after," Servia abandons her mad pretensions,
" disaster can hardly be averted." The real significance of
the article, however, lies not so much in its author's high
reputation as in the source from which he drew his documents
and other information. It revealed the fact that the collec-
tion of material compromising to Servia formed a definite
part of the plan of campaign adopted by the Ballplatz. It
revealed the further fact that the theft of important documents
formed part of the business of Austro-Hungarian diplomats.
How many scandalous secrets lay behind these two facts, the
future course of events was to reveal.
On March 27, Mr. Tuskan and Dr. Medakovic, in the name
of the Croato-Serb Coalition, wired to the Neue Freie Presse,
declaring all Dr. Friedjung's charges against the Coalition
to be " pure inventions," and summoning him to name the
guilty deputies, so ^ that the matter might be laid before a
court of law. The historian, in a brief reply, declined to be
more explicit and encouraged them to bring the threatened
action, since he was always ready to produce his proofs. His
reputation, he added, proved that he could " distinguish
genuine documents and historical sources from false ones,"
33» Neue Freie Presse, March 25, 1909.
205
THE ANNEXATION OF BOSNIA
and that in testing facts he was " not swayed by political
passion or personal spite."
The Reichspost, whose sources of information were the
same as Dr. Friedjimg's, had already published the names of
the three deputies alluded to in the Spalajkovic report ; and
these three, Messrs. Supilo, Pribicevic and Lukinic, lost little
time in suing the editor for libel. The other chief incriminated
person, Dr. Spalajkovic, as a high official in the Servian Foreign
Office, had naturally been tongue-tied so long as the crisis
lasted : and it was not until after the Montenegrin Note (April
9) and the formal recognition by the Powers (April 10) that
he was in a position to vindicate himself against Dr. Friedjung's
charges. On April 10, however, he published an answer in
the Neue Freie Presse, repudiating in the most explicit and
detailed manner all the charges levelled against him by Dr.
Fried] ung. Not merely did he deny the very existence of
the alleged Report, but he denied having ever written any
of the phrases ascribed to him or having ever met any member
of the Croato-Serb Coalition. But a denial, however emphatic,
would only convince his own friends and leave his enemies
to believe the opposite. " My ' No ' balances his ' Yes ' ; one
syllable, the other." Hence the sole remedy for this unsatis-
factory position is a court conducted by "scientific experts "
(sachkundige Experte),
Dr. Friedjung's rejoinder, printed in the same issue of the
Neue Freie Presse, declines this proposal, on the ground that
legal proceedings are already pending, and that it would be
too much to expect him to submit to two tribunals. Though
it might be safer to consent to arbitration, he prefers to go
before a jury. As for Dr. Spalajkovic's " No," he somewhat
arrogantly concludes, "it is an error to suppose that any
critical reader would assign the same weight " to the
words of one who was " the soul of the war party against
Austria-Hungary " and to " the historian whose quest is
truth." Dr. Friedjung's colleagues may regret the tone of
this reply and his refusal to submit to an inquiry by a court
of impartial foreign savants. But it is quite impossible to
blame him for deciding in favour of an ordinary trial. Dr.
Spalajkovic's delay — inevitable though it may have been —
had left the choice of tactics entirely in the hands of the
Coalition leaders ; and they had adopted the only course open
to them, namely a libel action before the Viennese courts. Be-
fore the Servian Under-Secretary intervened, they had already
206
THE VERDICT IN THE AGRAM TRIAL
entrusted Dr. Harpner, one of the leaders of the Austrian
Bar, with the conduct of their case. In these circumstances
Dr. Friedjung's attitude was most natural. His researches
in the Foreign Office had led him to regard Dr. Spalajkovic
as the ringleader in a dangerous conspiracy for the overthrow
of Austrian rule among the Southern Slavs ; and so far from
showing him any consideration, he hoped to ruin his political
career. Dr. Spalajkovid thus had no alternative but to await
the issue of the libel action, and to watch his opportunity for
intervening.
The date of Dr. Friedjung's trial was fixed for the autumn,
but for various reasons it was not till December that the pro-
ceedings actually opened. By that time the whole subject
had become highly distasteful to Baron, now Count, Aehrenthal
and his admirers ; and various efforts were made to secure
a settlement. But on the one hand. Dr. Friedjung, firmly
convinced that he was fighting in a righteous cause, felt his
reputation as a historian to be at stake : on the other hand,
the Coalition was determined to put an end to the campaign
of calumny directed against it, and could have accepted no
compromise which left the falsity of the documents in doubt.
Count Aehrenthal, whose estimate of journalists and pub-
licists as a class is said to be low, found that he must pay
dearly for having entrusted an eminent historian with the
press onslaught upon Servia. An ordinary scribbler might
perhaps have been " squared " ; a man of Dr. Friedjung's
calibre was immovable in matters which concerned his personal
honour.
Meanwhile the High Treason trial dragged on at Agram
till at length, after the proceedings had already lasted over
150 days, the verdict was announced on October 5, 1909.
Adam and Valerian Pribicevic were sentenced to twelve years'
imprisonment, Pero Bekic to eight years, three others to
seven years each, six others to six years each, and finally
nineteen others to five years. The twenty -two other prisoners
were acquitted. The total sentences imposed amounted to
184 years !
The verdict was worthy of such a trial : and it is sufficient
to point out two of its most flagrant absurdities, (i) The
accused were found guilty of conspiring to form a Pan-Serb
state under the sceptre of King Peter, and the brothers Pri-
bicevic of direct relations with the revolutionary society in
Belgrad. Yet the Court affirmed with special emphasis, that
207
THE ANNEXATION OF BOSNIA
it had " relied upon the evidence of the so-called Crown witness
Nastic only in so far as ... it was supported by other unex-
ceptionable evidence or documentary proofs. The rest of
his evidence the Court has rejected as irrelevant." In other
words, the only witness who even pretended to prove a direct
connexion of the prisoners with Belgrad, is put on one side, and
yet that connexion is treated as proved ! (2) If the prisoners'
guilt was so clearly established, sentence of death was the
only adequate punishment for so grave a charge as treason
and revolutionary intrigue. In the case of conspiracy against
the State there can be no extenuating circumstances — at least
in a country where High Treason has not yet been consigned
to the lumber-room of mediaeval phrases. Either they are
guilty, in which case the full severity of the law should be
imposed : or they are innocent, in which case they should be
acquitted. Sentences of five or six years' imprisonment for
such an offence are obviously inadequate, except as the result
of royal clemency. It is always open to the Sovereign to
commute the death sentence, and there was no reason why
this should not have been done in the case of the Serb prisoners.
Thus ended one of the most scandalous trials of modern
times, one which in its own country rivalled even the Dreyfus
trial for the fierceness of the party passion which it aroused.
Long before its close, it had become obvious to all impartial
observers that a gross travesty of justice was being committed.
Dr. Hinkovic and his colleagues, who had already entered
countless pleas of nullity against the rulings of the Court,
lodged an appeal against the verdict ; and the monster case
was referred to the Septemviral Court. The next scene of
the Croatian drama was to be enacted before a Viennese jury ;
upon its issue depended the fate of the Ranch regime.
208
CHAPTER X
The Friedjung Trial ^*"
" My defence takes the form of a chapter in the history of the Balkan
problem." — Dr. Friedjung, December g, 1909.
I. Dr. Friedjung's Defence (p. 211) — II. Dr. Friedjung's " Docu-
ments " (p. 216) — III. The Evidence of Dr. Funder (p. 228) —
IV. The Reichspost Documents (p. 230) — V. The Evidence of
Baron Chlumecky (p. 235) — VI. The Attitude of the Court (p.
240) — VII. The Evidence of Professor Markovic (p. 245) — VIII.
The Evidence of Professor Masaryk (p. 250) — IX. The Evidence
of Father Zagorac (p. 255) — X. Dr. Polit and the Servian Wit-
nesses (p. 259) — XI. The Evidence of Dr. Spalajkovic (p. 263) —
XII. CoaUtion Witnesses (p. 271) — XIII. Compromise (p. 277).
ON December 9 the long-expected trial opened before a
Viennese jury. Three separate actions had been
brought : by the fifty-two deputies of the Croato-Serb Coali-
tion against Dr. Friedjung ; by Mr. Supilo alone against Dr.
Friedjung ; and by Messrs. Supilo Pribicevic and Lukinic
against the editor of the Reichspost ; but being based in each
case upon the same material, all three charges were by common
consent made the subject of a single trial.
The proceedings were conducted before a court of three
judges, their president being Dr. Wach, a counsellor of the
Supreme Court (Oberlandesgerichtsrat) . Two of the leading
members of the Austrian Bar held briefs for the contending
parties : Dr. Edmund Benedikt for the defence, Dr. Harpner
for the prosecution. Of the two defendants, Mr. Ambros
was a mere figurehead, behind whom stood the chief editor,
Dr. Friedrich Funder, and the Christian Socialist party, whose
chief organ the Reichspost is.
2*" All quotations in this chapter are from the very full reports of the
trial given in the Neue Freie Presse. I was myself present at the pro-
ceedings on the seventh and following days (six days in all) and was
thus enabled on certain points to form my own impressions, being per-
sonally acquainted with the defendants, a number of the plaintiffs and
even several of the witnesses.
S.S.Q. 209 P
THE FRIEDJUNG TRIAL
The figure of Dr. Fried] ung deserves very different treat-
ment. Born in 185 1 of Jewish parents in a small Mora-
vian town, he was educated in Vienna and Prague and
in 1873 became professor of history at the Vienna
Academy of Commerce. His first book was an admirable
monograph on the Emperor Charles IV and his influence
upon the culture of Mediaeval Bohemia. In 1877, however,
he entered the political arena with a pamphlet on " The Com-
promise with Austria." The sharp criticisms of the Taaffe
Cabinet which this book contained, led to its author's dis-
missal from his post ; the Minister of Education was unjust
enough to refuse a disciplinary inquiry. Young Fried] ung
joined the staff of the Deutsche Zeitung, the leading German
National organ of those days, and was for many years an
active exponent of what are now known as Pan-German
doctrines. 3*1 Indeed the famous Linz Programme of 1885,
containing the political credo of the German extremists in
Austria, was from his pen. Amid all his activity as a journalist,
he still found time for historical research ; but time had already
mellowed his political opinions, when in 1896 he published a
larger work on The Struggle for the Supremacy in Germany.
With him as with so many of his contemporaries the Pan-
German gradually gave place to the Austrian patriot. The
old conception of Austria as a German state fought with the
growing perception of Austria's great mission as a Volkerbund ^^^
a league of races bound together by indissoluble ties of necessity
and interest. This new Austrian patriotism — marred, it is
true, at times by something of the old German-Austrian narrow-
ness — is the leitmotif of all his books, alike of his brilliant
study of Austro-Prussian rivalry, and of the later volumes
dealing with Austrian Policy ; during the Crimean War and
Austria since 1848.^^3 'The broad perspective and sober judg-
ment which characterise all his writings, won him general
recognition alike in Austria and in Germany, and a lucid and
attractive style rendered them accessible to a wide pubhc.
2*^ He was also for many years correspondent of the Munich Allge-
meine Zeitung, the Grazer Tagespost and the Vossische Zeitung of
Berlin, to which he still frequently contributes.
2*2 See article on Dr. Friedj ung, by Dr. A. Bettelheim, in Oesterreichische
Rundschau, January, 15, 191 1.
3" Dr. Friedj ung has also shown himself to be a very able military
critic, notably in his accounts of Koniggratz, Custozza and the seafight
off Lissa. He edited the Papers of^Benedek, the unfortunate commander
of the Austrian Army in the war of 1866.
210
DR. FRIEDJUNG'S DEFENCE
Despite his acknowledged rank as the most brilliant his-
torian of modern Austria, Dr. Fried] ung had been for years
consistently ignored by the Neue Freie Presse,'^^'^ the leading
German paper of the Monarchy ; and hence the publication
of his article by that journal gave rise to much comment.
There is good reason to believe that Baron Aehrenthal, who
had during the summer of 1908 entered into friendly relations
with the chief editor and proprietor of the Neue Freie Presse
(at about the same time when he first made Dr. Friedjung's
acquaintance) arranged the publication of the manuscript with-
out ever consulting its author. ^^^ At the trial now opening
it was not merely the reputation of Dr. Fried] ung that was
on trial, but no less a personage than Count Aehrenthal and
his diplomatic methods. Despite the transparent disclaimers
of the Fremdenhlatt and other official organs, the whole atmo-
sphere of the case was purely political, and an issue of European
importance was at stake.
I. Dr. Friedjung's Defence.
Almost the entire course of the first day's proceedings was
occupied by Dr. Friedjung's speech in his own defence. It
was couched in the same grandiloquent strain as the incrimi-
nated article, and no one who reads it could pretend that it
was worthy of the gifted author of Der Kampf um die Vor-
herrschaft. His article, he said, was written at a moment
when the Emperor " called to arms thousands and ten thou-
sands of our brothers and sons," and reflected the feelings of
that exciting time. Not being in a position to defend his
fatherland sword in hand, he conceived it to be his plain duty
as a historian and publicist, to place his pen at the service
of Austria, and in so doing he was only continuing his lifework
of strengthening the consciousness of his fellow-citizens, by
an interpretation of their past history.
The main portion of the article was aimed at a foreign foe,
with whom at the moment war seemed to be imminent ; its
purpose was to expose the threads of Pan-Serb conspiracy,
and thus to demonstrate the necessity of the annexation.
2** As the main journalistic bulwark of the Dual System, and organ of
the Jewish Liberals, it regarded the Pan-Germans with hostility, partly
owing to their anti-Semite tinge.
^*5 It is said that when the sudden change from war to peace occurred
(March 24), an effort was made at the last moment to withdraw the
article, but that it was already too late.
211
THE FRTEDJUNG TRIAL
Only in passing did it deal a blow at certain parties and
politicians of Transleithania.
Dr. Fried] ung went on to admit that the Croats and Serbs
of the Monarchy are at bottom loyally devoted to the State
and to the dynasty, and impervious to the intrigues of Belgrad,
and that these loyal sentiments explain the unusual phenome-
non of a whole party of fifty-two members appearing as plain-
tiffs on the present occasion. But his opponents must be
divided into two very unequal halves — on the one hand certain
individuals whom he would name and would prove guilty of
treasonable practices and the acceptance of foreign bribes,
and on the other hand the great majority of the party, whose
honour was in no way affected by these charges and who only
took action " for the honour of the flag." He rejoiced to
think that the whole Southern Slav question had thus been
raised, and that the result of the trial would be to effect " a
separation between the loyal elements and certain political
desperadoes."
Dr. Fried] ung then indulged in a sharp attack upon Dr.
Tuskan and Mr. Francis Supilo, the president and the real
leader of the Coalition, whom he charged with " an incom-
prehensible, a pitiless hatred towards our Austrian fatherland."
The best proof of this was supplied by the words uttered by
the former during a heated debate in the Croatian Diet —
November 30, 1905 — that he was ready to go to war with gun
in hand and fire upon Vienna. And here, after another
patriotic outburst in defence of " this glorious city," " this
ancient seat of culture and education," " against foreign
brutality," Dr. Fried] ung mildly affirmed that he had no idea
of urging the ]ury to form straight away a damning opinion
of his opponents. Alas ! the " Don't put him under the
pump " argument in the mouth of the Austrian Froude !
Far worse, however, was the famous speech delivered by
Supilo on February 25, 1907, in which he spoke as follows : —
" If we are conscious that our task consists in forming a wall
of defence for the Balkans against the foreigner, and not a
bridge for his advance, then, gentlemen, we must before all
reckon with our brethren the Serbs." Austria, then, cries
the horrified historian, is a foreigner ! Strange words in the
mouth of a Croat, who remembers the long centuries in which
Austrian and Croat bled together in the Turkish wars. " Were
the verdict of Mr. Supilo not influenced by bribery, then he
would never have exposed himself so far, he would never
212
DR. FRIEDJUNG'S DEFENCE
have expressed himself so impudently against Austria-Hungary
and for Servia." Are these, one involuntarily exclaims, the
words of an accused man defending himself against a grave
charge of political libel, or the words of a public prosecutor
fulminating against a prisoner in the dock ? ^*^
Dr. Friedjung then proceeded to fence in the ground : he
had charged the plaintiffs ^^^ with "shady and dishonourable,
but not with treasonable relations " [wohl unlauterer und
illoyaler nicht aber hochveyrdterischer Verbindungen), and he
denied the insinuation that his action made him an accomplice
in the oppression of the non-Magyar races of Hungary. He
then passed in review Supilo's journalistic activity and affected
to discover in him an abrupt change from an Austrophil to a
violently Austrophobe policy, from the moment when in 1901
he settled in Fiume as editor of Novi List. After rightly
placing at Supilo's door the chief responsibility for the Fiume
Resolution, he emphasized its anti-Austrian character for the
benefit of the jury, and pictured the delight with which Louis
Kossuth, " the irreconcilable enemy of the House of Habs-
burg," would have welcomed this unholy pact and still more
the wicked words of Dr. Tuskan. The Fiume and Zara Reso-
lutions he depicted as a conspiracy for the partition of the
Monarchy, in accordance with which Hungary would have
separated from Austria, Dalmatia would have fallen to Croatia,
and Bosnia would have been surrendered to King Peter. He
admitted the services rendered by the Croato-Serb Coalition
to the cause of racial harmony between Croat and Serb, but
his sympathy with this cause was clouded by the anti-Austrian
tinge which it had assumed ; and he recounted with indigna-
tion the incidents of the short-lived Magyar-Servian entente
of 1906, when the fire-eating Kossuthist deputy Zoltan Lengyel,
in his speech at Semendria, urged the Servians to perfect their
armaments and so increase their value as allies, and when
Magyar and Servian sabres were bound together beneath the
Hungarian tricolour.
^*^ Even the Neue Freie Presse, which throughout the trial openly took
sides for the defendants, printed in italics what was favourable to them
and in its comments slurred over and sometimes even ignored what was
unfavourable, wrote of this speech as follows : " His finely conceived
remarks, though in form a defence, formed in reality the sharpest and
most unsparing attacks upon the Croato-Serb Coalition." [N.F.P.
December 10, 1909.)
347 "Meine Prozessgegner." Here then would seem to be no question
of individual members, but rather of the whole Coalition.
213
THE FRIEDJUNG TRIAL
After a moderate survey of party conditions in Croatia under
Pejacevic and Rauch, Dr. Friedjung turned to a discussion
of the revolutionary and Panserb propaganda in Belgrad.
The Servian Budget provides a fund of £55,000 a year " for
the worthy defence of national interests," in other words for
agitation abroad ; and from this fund not merely are the
churches and schools in Old Servia and Macedonia supported,
but also large sums are distributed in the southern districts
of the Habsburg Monarchy, through the medium of Servian
Government officials and also the Belgrad society Slovenski
Jug (The Slav South). In directly charging the Coalition
deputies, Messrs. Supilo, Medakovic, Pribicevic, Budisavljevi<5
and Lukinic with receiving bribes from Servia, he declared
that his evidence was based not upon Austrian or Hungarian
reports but exclusively upon documents drawn from the
Servian camp. Of these the majority came from the archives
of the Slovenski Jug. An important link in the relations
between the Croat deputies and Belgrad was the Servian
Consul-General in Budapest, Mr. Petkovic,^*^ who was especi-
ally active during the sessions of the Hungarian Parliament,
and whose agents repeatedly travelled through Hungary.
Even the Belgrad press, added Dr. Friedjung, wrote quite
openly of " certain Serb politicians of Hungary," especially
members of the Serb Radical party, as pensioners of Servia.
After analysing the contents of a number of his " docu-
ments," Dr. Friedjung referred to the continual praise of
Servia sung by the newspapers of Supilo and Pribicevic 2*^
and quoted — as it subsequently transpired, in a grossly inac-
curate form 2^° — a speech delivered by Supilo in the Croatian
Diet early in 1907, describing Bosnia's severance from the
Monarchy as a piece of good fortune and urging Croat and
Serb to unite against the stranger, in other words against
Austria-Hungary and its German ally.
Dr. Friedjung, when initiated into these details of the pan-
Serb conspiracy, felt it to be his patriotic duty to combat it
by every means in his power. Its existence rendered the
annexation of Bosnia absolutely necessary. But Austria-
Hungary would merely have placed itself in a false position
by demanding the dissolution of the Slovenski Jug ; for Belgrad
was capable of denying that the sky is blue, and in place of
^*8 Now Servian Minister in Cetinje.
319 }^ovi List and Syhobyan. ^so 5^^ page 280.
214
DR. FRIED JUNG'S DEFENCE ,
one secret society three or four new ones would have sprung
up. No, the only course for the Monarchy was action so
energetic as to make the restless little Balkan states tremble
and give the required satisfaction. The news of the annexation
roused the Slovenski Jug to fresh activity, and according to
the minutes of its central committee, an attempt was made
to win the friendly leaders of the Croato-Serb Coalition for a
general rising. " I hasten to add," continued Dr. Friedjung,
" that this summons to treachery and armed revolt was not
complied with ; but how far must these relations have
gone, if the Slovenski Jug could dare to address to these deputies
so mad or infamous a summons ? " Further, the leaders of
the Coalition were largely responsible for the improved relations
between the Courts of Belgrad and Cetinje, though the con-
spirators in Belgrad soon found that all the money devoted
by them to intrigues in Bosnia and Croatia was merely thrown
away, and that its recipients had no intention of risking their
skins for " the Southern Slav King."
Summarizing his results. Dr. Friedjung argued that since
the accession of the Karageorgevic dynasty in 1903 the Servian
state has been the prey of a crowd of Macedonian, Bosnian
and Croatian adventurers and political speculators, who
fought for the Secret Fund and for pickings from the Army
Estimates ; while the agents of the pan-Serb propaganda
within the Monarchy were above all else political swindlers,
even if they were not traitors. " It is no business of the
historian," he concluded, " to reduce men's words and deeds
to the provisions of a penal code ; his task is to examine
documents, to establish facts and illustrate characters. I
have not charged my opponents with treason, but with an
action which is really more disgraceful, even if its consequences
are less serious. For there are circumstances in which it is
valorous and high-spirited to risk one's head in a conspiracy
for the achievement of political and national dreams. But
it is utterly contemptible to enter into relations with the
enemy of one's country, to ask and to accept money for oneself,
for newspapers and for political trials, and then to proclaim
oneself as a model of loyalty, and those who say the contrary
as slanderers. My lifework has been historic research, and
thus my defence takes the form of a chapter in a historical
book, the history of the Balkan problem. I have spoken to
you, gentlemen, as my judges, but at the same time I address
my fellow-historians, who will also give their vferdict as to
215
THE FRIEDJUNG TRIAL
whether in examining these documents I have acted critically
and conscientiously, sifting the true from the false. Every
impartial person will, I am sure, admit that I have built upon
the sure foundation of reliable documents, and hence I await
with complete calm the final verdict of the jury."
II. Dr. Friedjung's " Documents."
The " documents " upon which Dr. Friedjung based his
defence, were laid before the Court in a printed German trans-
lation, generally referred to as the Green Book. They are
twenty-four in number, and are preceded by a brief preface
giving Dr. Friedjung's idea of the Slovenski Jug society. The
reader of the Green Book cannot fail to be struck by the fact
that the majority of the " documents " have been very exten-
sively " cut," and are in many cases mere fragments. Whether
the omitted portions would have thrown much additional
light upon the question at issue, it is of course impossible to
say without a study of the original forgeries ; but from a
significant admission made by Dr. Friedjung in the coiuse
of the trial {see p. 260) it would appear that the selection was
not carried out on strictly scientific lines.
Nineteen of the " documents " relate to the Slovenski Jug,
notably the minutes of a number of its ordinary meetings and
of its central committee, the very existence of which was denied
by the prosecution. In these minutes Professor Bozidar
Markovic, a young professor of criminal law at Belgrad Univer-
sity, appears as president of the club ; the vice-presidents were
Ljubomir Jovanovic, fomerly President of the Skupshtina,
and since 1909 Servian Minister of the Interior, and Ljubomir
Davidovic, a former Minister of Education. In No. I the
names of Glavincic and Gjorgevic appear as members, but
in all subsequent documents only six names occur, namely
the president, the two vice-presidents, Michael Jovanovic —
of whom nothing is known — Rista Odavic and Mile Pavlovic,
the two latter being professors in Belgrad gymnasia.
I. Minutes of Slovenski Jug, February i-(i4), 1908. ^^^
(2 " cuts ".)
The president of the club. Professor Markovic, reports a
conversation with the Servian Premier, Dr. Pasic, who wished
^^' In this and most of the other " documents " both Old and New
Style are given ; but it is obvious that no Servian (least of all in a
revolutionary club) would ever dream of adding the New Style.
216
DR. FRIEDJUNG'S "DOCUMENTS"
the club's statutes to be altered in such a way that any item
of expenditure exceeding i,ooo francs must be referred to the
Foreign Minister. The Premier expressed doubts as to Slo-
venski Jug's agents in Bosnia, and declined to assist the club
any farther until he had reliable information. Several mem-
bers criticized Pasic's attitude very outspokenly, and Davi-
dovic used the following words -.^^ " It is know^n to the Premier,
and I declare to you, that we must help our friend Supilo.
I therefore beg you to send him at once 4,000 crowns." An-
other member argued that Bosnia was in greater need of help
than Croatia, which had neither a Burian^^ nor a Horman^^
to torment them.^^s After an hour's debate, 3,000 crowns
were voted in aid of Supilo.
II. Slovenski Jug, Central Committee, eighth meeting,
minutes of February 26 (March 10), 1908. (2 " cuts ".)
The ex-Minister of Education, Davidovic, reported upon
Supilo's plan of campaign, and the advantages which would
accrue to the Serbs from their joint action with the Croats.
Above all the Starcevic party must be defeated, Serb interests
must be defended against Ranch, " the servant of Vienna,"
and the pledge breakers of Pest must be shown that the Serbs
are formidable foes. Davidovic therefore proposed that
" material aid " should be sent to Supilo, in view of " the
impending elections to the Diet of the Triune Kingdom." For
this purpose it was decided to convey 6,000 dinars (£240) to
Supilo through the club's confidential agent.
III. Confidential order of the Servian Foreign Office to
assign the sum of " 6,000 francs in gold from the Treasury to
the committee of Slovenski Jug, to be paid by them to Mr.
Supilo." Signed " Dr. Stefanovic," dated February 29
(March 13), 1908.
IV. Payment of 6,000 dinars to Supilo. Order to pay,
signed by Markovic, as president of the central committee
of Slovenski Jug, issued to the treasurer of the club. Dated
March 2, 1908.
^^2 Throughout the following analysis all quotations are translated
quite literally from the German text so that the reader may have some
idea of its extreme crudity of phrase.
25' Austro-Hungarian Finance Minister and hence Minister for Bosnia,
'5* A prominent official in Sarajevo, a patriotic Austrian Croat.
^^* Only a supporter of Baron Rauch could have written thus, for it
is obvious that not even a Belgrad Chauvinist would have described
Burian and Horman as worse than Rauch.
217
THE FRIEDJUNG TRIAL
V. Minutes of Slovenski Jug, March 9 (22), 1908.
Markovic announced that the Premier had approved a grant
of 10,000 francs for the foundation of agricultural societies
in Bosnia. It was then decided to request the Foreign Minister
to grant " 15,000 francs in gold " in aid of the Serb opposition
at the Sarajevo municipal elections, the meeting " being unani-
mously inspired by the conviction that a contribution is neces-
sary for the preservation of the Serb name and the Serb pride."
Markovic pointed out that the Premier was not disposed to
continue his grants, if their efforts in Sarajevo should prove
a failure ; and hence defeat must at least be followed by some
protest more effective than a mere deputation to Vienna, or
lamentations in the press. The Orthodox and Mohammedan
Serbs of Bosnia must unite in circulating a memorandum
throughout the European press. Four thousand francs were
assigned to Srpska Rijec, the leading Serb newspaper in Bosnia,
and to another local journal. (A " cut " here suggests that
further names are given.)
VI. Report of the central committee of Slovenski Jug to
Prince George of Servia. March 17 (30), 1908.
The report submits the minutes and accounts of the last
month, which showed an expenditure of 37,890 francs. Its
main tenour is a complaint of inadequate financial support
by the Minister of Foreign Affairs. One passage is worth
quoting, as an illustration of the naivete of author and recipient
alike. " Your Royal Highness must be well aware that public
opinion in Servia is devoting its special attention to the move-
ment among our brethren in Bosnia and Herzegovina, and it
is equally well known to you that the Servian people, with
respect to Macedonia, Old Servia, Bosnia and Herzegovina,
possesses its {sic) unquestionable historic and traditional rights.
Even though the committee has no idea of exceeding the limits
of that policy which is suitable for the preservation of peace
in the Balkan peninsula, and though the Servian people ad-
heres loyally and honestly to this policy, the committee in its
activity cannot be indifferent to eventualities which threaten
Serb national interests "... etc.
VII. Minutes of Slovenski Jug, March 30, 1908. (Only
" the most important passage " is reproduced, and even in it
there are 3 " cuts ".)
Jovanovic reports a conversation with the Premier, whose
first words were, " Ljuba, brother, stop a little . . . with
your propaganda." Pasic feared evil results from Slovenski
218
DR. FRIEDJUNG'S "DOCUMENTS"
Jug's activity, both " because the Austrian, Hungarian and
Bosnian Governments keep up an extensive system of spies,
and might discover everything, and also because railway com-
munications with Italy are at stake." " Besides," added
Jovanovic, " the minister informed me confidentially as to
the disappearance of certain important documents, among
them also one of ours, regarding Supilo. Vice-consul Vintrovic
sent this document by a courier to the minister, who, however,
did not come into possession of it. . . . If our document has
fallen into wrong hands, then we must certainly suspend our
activity for a certain time." ^^
VIII. Extract from minutes of central committee of Slo-
venski Jug, July 29, 1908.
Reference is made to the services of Messrs. Supilo and
Budisavljevic, and as " matters are now approaching the
decision whether our Coalition or Ranch in league with Vienna
is finally to win the victory," it is decided to assign 3,000
dinars to Mr. Supilo, 5,000 to the newspaper Srbobran, and
2,000 to Mr. Budisavljevic.
Villa. Balance of accounts of Slovenski Jug for August,
1908, showing expenditure as above.
IX. Minutes of Slovenski Jug, August 21, 1908.
Here Dr. Friedjung, instead of supplying translated extracts,
merely summarizes the contents of the minutes in question.
In them Professor Mar ko vie reported upon his journey to
Salonica, and his negotiations with the Young Turk Com-
mittee. Their result was an arrangement for joint action on
the part of the Orthodox and Mohammedan Serbs of Bosnia
for agitation in favour of the extension to Bosnia of the new
Turkish constitution, and for the publication of a newspaper
in Constantinople to propagate this idea. Jovanovic then
reported a conversation which he had had with the Foreign
Minister, Dr. Milovanovic, who expressed the fear that lack
of caution on the part of the Slovenski Jug might involve
Servia in difficulties abroad. " I convinced him, gentlemen,"
continued Jovanovic, that even if he should meet with diffi-
culties and unpleasantnesses, he only had to contest and deny
everything, like Mr. Pasic." ^s?
^^^ Thiis passage is a very obvious trick, to render more plausible
the wholesale methods of theft by which all these "minutes" were
ostensibly stolen from the Slovenski Jug. In reality, as will be seen
later (Chapter XII), they were manufactured in the Belgrad Legation.
387 What better proof of the forgery could be supplied than this
astounding extract ?
219
THE FRIEDJUNG TRIAL
Finally a manifesto intended by Supilo for the use of the
Croato-Serb Coalition was submitted to the meeting, and
approved on condition that it should be signed jointly by
Serbs and Croats.
X. Minutes of Slovenski Jug, September 22 (October 5),
1908, the very day of the annexation, (i " cut".)
The president refers to the possibility of annexation and
moves that their Bosnian friends, Damjanovic and Krulj,
should be speedily advised " to work with greater energy,
and be ready at any moment." Supilo, Medakovic ^^ and
Babic-Djalski ^^^ must also be warned, and every effort made
to win over the Bosnian Mohammedans. After an adjourn-
ment Markovic, who had been summoned by a minister,
announced the fait accompli of the annexation, and passed
the minutes with the words, " Our action must now begin,
and I therefore beg you, gentlemen, to be here to-morrow,
that we may consider what we can do to liberate our oppressed
brothers."
XI. Resolutions, etc., passed at the twenty-seventh meeting
of the central committee of Slovenski Jug, September 22, 1908.
In this document, then, we have the central committee, whereas
in the previous document, which refers to the same resolutions,
only the ordinary meeting is referred to.
{a) The president communicates the telegram of the Buda-
pest consulate, announcing the annexation. " I have already
informed Hadzi Risto (Damjanovic) and Krulj of this barbar-
ous action." The vice-president announces that the minister
gives the committee a free hand in its efforts " to fan the dis-
content of the people in Bosnia and Herzegovina, and incite
them to armed resistance." A member proposes sending a
supply of bombs to the Bosnian frontier.
{b) Petition to the minister for a supply of bombs and poison
" to poison the springs," 1,000 rifles with ammunition, and a
sum of 20,000 francs.
(c) Appeal to the Town Council of Belgrad for the support
of the club in its efforts " to save Bosnia."
(d) A communication to be sent to Babic-Djalski, Supilo
and Medakovic, urging upon them, in view of the dangers in
which the Serb race is placed, to arrange a general rising in
Croatia-Slavonia.
(e) A similar appeal to be sent to three Bosnian leaders.
^** President of the Croatian Sabor.
'*• A well-known Croatian novelist and poet, member of the Coalition.
220
■ " DR. FRIEDJUNG'S "DOCUMENTS"
(/) Captain Manojlovic entrusted with the care of the bombs.
XII. Minutes of Slovenski Jug, October 5 (18), 1908. (3
" cuts ".)
An exalted harangue by Markovic on the dangers brought
by the annexation upon the Servian Fatherland. " In this
sacred room {sic) a year ago momentous words were heard,
that the young son of the old Prince, Prince Mirko, is working
with certain individuals against our reigning house, that he
is chiefly responsible for preventing every attempt to liberate
the Serbs from Austrian slavery." Mirko and his father have
fortunately renounced this policy, " for he realizes that he
was on false paths, on paths where the fate of Alexander
Obrenovic would have reached him." Servia and Montenegro
must at length unite in defence of the national idea and shake
off the chains of " Swabian-Magyar " culture. " The Swabian ^^^
bloodsucker already has our brothers by the throat, but he
has not yet strangled them."
Davidovic then pled the cause of friendship between Servia
and Montenegro, argued that Jovanovic's policy of intrigue
with the Progressive Party in Montenegro had caused great
mischief, and pointed out that " Medakovic, Lorkovic and
Supilo with Djalski describe this as the basis for our further
work." To this Jovanovic rejoined that the policy adopted
by him towards Montenegro was not his own, but that of " our
insulted Crown Prince." It was finally agreed that Markovic
and Davidovic should confer with the Young Turks, and
Jovanovic with the Montenegrin Voivode Vukotic. The com-
mittee would then draw up a plan for the equipment of the
" Bands."
XIII. Minutes of Slovenski Jug, thirty-first meeting, Octo-
ber 21 (November 3), 1908 (4 " cuts ".)
Markovic announces the result of his conference with the
Servian Premier Velimirovic, regarding the club's activity
in Bosnia. The Premier had expressed the wish that the
smuggling of arms, ammunition and bombs across the frontier
should no longer be carried on by natives of the kingdom, but by
the Bosnians themselves. But this roused opposition from
Jovanovic and Davidovic, and Markovic, admitting the diffi-
culties involved in a change of tactics, agreed that the old
method of smuggling must be retained.
^6" " Svab " is the usual name for the German throughout the Western
Balkans. It is sometimes used to denote any foreigner.
221
THE FRTEDJUNG TRIAL
XIV. Telegram of Mr. Popovic, Servian Minister in St.
Petersburg.
[The composition and origin of this " document " is so
obscure and suspicious, that I prefer to give an exact transla-
tion rather than to offer any comment.]
From the Ministry of Foreign Affairs
13/XI Petersburg,
Ljubomir Jovanovic, Professor, President of the Skupshtina,
Here (=" Local," i.e. Belgrad).
Mr. M. Popovic announces to you : Messrs. Miljukov, Kora-
bljev, Stohovitch and others have handed me 2,000 roubles,
in the desire that you should buy and procure with the money
rifles and lead (Blei) against the Austrians. These gentle-
men send great greetings, and exhort you not to yield. For
the present I can tell you nothing personally from my side.
Through the post I send you 2,000 roubles.
M. POPOVK^.
It is not clear whether this " document " is a telegram to
the President of the Skupshtina, as Dr. Fried] ung describes
it, or a mere summary of the contents of a telegram received
by the Servian Foreign Office. In the latter case it is obvious,
from the wording, that something has been suppressed. School-
boys sometimes begin letters in the third person, and end in
the first ; but not even in Servia or in Russia is that customary
among diplomats. Dr. Friedjung should have known this.
XV. Extract from minutes of Slovenski Jug, central com-
mittee, November 16 (29), igo8. (Beginning and end missing ;
3 " cuts ".)
Markovic reports a further conversation with the Foreign
Minister, Dr. Milovanovic, who informed him that Berlin
and London, to say nothing of Vienna, were fully aware that
Servia's propaganda was far more active in Bosnia than in
Old Servia, Macedonia and the Triune Kingdom. The Minister
urged great caution, and insisted that the minutes of Slovenski
Jug should be submitted to no one in the Foreign Office save
Dr. Spalajkovic. Jovanovic endorsed the view that no junior
officials should be allowed to see them ; for " that must be
the source from which news of the pan-Serb propaganda get
abroad. After all, what else can be expected of officials with
a monthly salary of 80 francs, than that if our minutes fall
into their hands, they should trumpet them abroad in all
222
DR. FRIEDJUNG'S "DOCUMENTS"
directions." 361 A contribution from " our Russian brothers"
was then thankfully acknowledged. Jovanovic then an-
nounced that Messrs. Lorkovic, Supilo and Medakovic, with
other members of the Coalition, decided at their last meeting
to act so as to convince the central committee of the Slovenski
Jug that they know how to adapt their attitude in the Bosnian
question, and that Belgrad need not believe the lies of the
Viennese slaves. Only in view of the uncertainty of the
present time they cannot develop their activity in detail, but
they will do this to the Servian agent [presumably the Budapest
consul], since Francis Supilo is authorized to do so. The
meeting then decided to postpone its decision until it heard
from this agent.
XVL Telegram of the Servian Consul in Budapest to the
Servian Foreign Minister, December 29, 1908 (January 11,
1909).
" In their conference of yesterday they accepted Supilo's
demand. Inform Professor Pavlovic that demonstrations will
take place. I have disbursed the money."
XVII. Minutes of Slovenski Jug, central committee, Jan-
uary 9 (22), 1909. (i " cut " : end missing).
Present : Markovic, Lj. Jovanovic, Davidovic, Michael Jova-
novic and the Russian deputy Maklakov as guest. Markovic
declares that in entering upon its fourth year of existence,
Slovenski Jug realizes that its patriotic hopes are not in vain.
This is best proved by the attitude of " our brothers in the
Triune Kingdom," who, despite Ranch's pressure, remain
true to " the sacred idea of united and fraternizing Serbdom."
The Bosnians only asked for arms, in order to be at their
enemy's throat.
XVIII. Minutes of Slovenski Jug, central committee, Jan-
uary 22 (February 4), 1909. (3 " cuts " : end missing.)
Davidovic reported that his relations with the Croato-Serb
Coalition had suffered interruption, " because Baron Ranch
accidentally is in possession of certain written proofs as also
insinuations of some dishonest people about the connexion
with us. The written proofs with which the servant of the
Viennese and Pest hussars hopes to annihilate the Coalition,
are not of a kind which could compromise us or the leaders
of the Coalition. None the less, our brothers Supilo and Meda-
*^^ Here again it is absolutely incredible that any Servian could
have written thus.
223
THE FRIEDJUNG TRIAL
kovic, have requested our Consul-general in Budapest, Mr.
Petkovic, to inform the minister of their wish that our club
Slovenski Jug and its reading-room should remain closed so
long as that Ranch comedy remains unfinished. The deputies
in question will do all in their power, so that the whole affair
may end in a blamage of the Ban Ranch." Pavlovic stated
that during his recent visit to Agram, Medakovic had expressed
the wish that the Slovenski Jug should be closed until after
the High Treason trial, since Baron Ranch used the existence
of the club as one of his chief arguments.
The committee decided to appeal to the Foreign Minister
for a grant of 6,000 francs in aid of the defence of the Serb
prisoners in the Agram High Treason Trial, as requested by
Messrs. Supilo and Medakovic. It was then announced
that the Guerilla Bands Committee had assigned 5,000 francs
to the Slovenski Jug in support of the rising in Bosnia.
XIX. Extract from minutes of Slovenski Jug, central
committee, February 15 (28), 1908.
Markovic reports that the Foreign Minister is not disposed
to grant the 6,000 francs requested, or to take any action in
Croatia so long as the Ranch regime lasts. The committee
resolved to renew its application for this money.
XX. Circular of Count Pejacevic, as Ban of Croatia, to all
the High Sheriffs (February 21, 1906). The only genuine
document in the Green Book {see p. 272).
This confidential report states that a Bosnian committee
in Belgrad, under the chairmanship of Professor Cvijic, is
intriguing for a rising in Bosnia, acquiring confidential agents,
spreading pamphlets and proclamations, and smuggling arms.
It then names seventeen persons in Agram and six other
Croatian towns — notably Dr. Medakovic and Mr. Pribicevic —
as agents of this committee, and instructs the High Sheriffs,
acting in strict secrecy, to place them under observation and
submit a detailed report on the result of their inquiries. " In
the interest of a more effective control, I draw your attention
to the correspondence carried on between the above-named
persons and the following persons living outside the bounds
of Croatia-Slavonia " (here follow the names of fourteen
Dalmatians and Bosnians, including Mr. Supilo, and also
four residents in Belgrad) . In the report Dr. Franko Potocnjak^^^
is assumed to be the intermediary between the various
382 5gg p, 276.
DR. FRIEDJUNG'S "DOCUMENTS"
groups of conspirators. It concludes by emphasizing the need
for special watchfulness in regard to " political and pub-
licistic movements and also foreign travellers."
In a footnote Dr. Friedjung points out that this circular
was sent out at a time when Count Pejacevic, as head of a
Unionist Government, had to contend with the opposition
of the Croato-Serb Coalition. He is however quite in error
in stating that Count Pejacevic went over to the Coalition
after the latter's victory at the elections of 1906. The true
facts are that the Wekerle Coalition Cabinet, two of whose
chief members, Kossuth and Polonyi, had been the Magyar
representatives at the Resolution of Fiume, gave its Croatian
allies a free hand at the elections and the latter having failed
to secure an absolute majority in the Diet, Count Pejacevid
remained Ban as a neutral statesman who belonged to neither
Coalition. He did not join the Croato-Serb Coalition until
the elections of February 1908, eight months after he had
ceased to be Ban.
XXI. Report of Dr. Spalajkovic, Under-Secretary of State
for Foreign Affairs, to the Servian Premier, Dr. Pasic, June 4,
1907.3^2
This longwinded " document " purports to be an account
of a meeting at Semlin between Dr. Spalajkovic and Mr.
Svetozar Pribicevic. The latter expressed his gratitude
for the assurance that " so long as the present Cabinet remains
in power, Servia would scrupulously fulfil those pledges which
it had given in the sense of the Fiume Resolution." Spalaj-
kovic pointed out that owing to internal difficulties Servia
would be unable to increase the suffi hitherto supplied to
" the Croato-Serb Party " {sic !), but would make a special
grant in the event of new elections in Croatia, " for the Ser-
vian Government is firmly convinced that no other combi-
nation could assure to the aims of Southern Slav solidarity
a more certain support than that which has acquired its basis
in the Fiume Resolution, and which by means of the under-
standing arrived at in Fiume on the part of Your Excellency
and Mr. Protic with Messrs. Supilo and Medakovic, was also
extended to Servia." Servia, however, owing to its relations
with Bulgaria, its unreadiness for war and other reasons, was
obliged to aim at improved relations with Austria-Hungary
3 63 See Appendix XIV.
S.S.Q. 225 Q
THE FRIEDJUNG TRIAL
and consequently to adopt " a certain reserve " towards
its friends in the Monarchy. After March, 1908, however,
the situation would be different ; the Servian army would
be then well armed, and above all the new loan, " regarding
which the preliminary negotiations are already ended and
which the Skupshtina will vote in the autumn," will place in-
creased funds at the disposal of the state. PribiSevic ad-
mitted the strength of Spalajkovic's arguments, but urged
the grant of 50,000 francs in aid of his party and its action
in the Hungarian Parliament. Finally he reduced his demands
first to 20,000 and then to 12,000 francs, which were to be
consigned within two days to Peter Jelovac, a merchant in
Semlin. In return for this sum the Serb Independent party
would place at the disposal of the Servian Press Bureau no
fewer than five newspapers — Srbobran and Srpsko Kolo in
Agram and three in the provinces. It was agreed that all
Bosnian news should so far as possible be first of all submitted
to the press bureau to avoid suspicion on the part of the
Bosnian authorities. " The foreign publicistic action " was
to remain as hitherto in the hands of Dr. Polit,^®* who had
already made several " disbursements for certain persons
in the entourage of Mr. Josipovic.^^^
Finally Mr. Pribicevic suggested that the Servian Minister
in Vienna should induce the Russian ambassador to employ
his intimate relations with the German ambassador to induce
the latter to influence the entourage of the Emperor in favour
of the Croato-Serb Coalition and against the Hungarian Govern-
ment. In reply to this suggestion, Spalajkovic explained
that the Servian Government would regard it as a great mis-
take if the Coalition in return for such services should suc-
cumb to the influence of Vienna and the Habsburg policy.
For even if such action might commend itself to the Croat
deputies, their Serb colleagues could not fail to realize that
the aims of the Serb race in regard to Bosnia would be finally
compromised, if once Vienna acquired unlimited power to
regulate according to its pleasure the fate of the occupied
provinces. In this connexion the continuance of a parlia-
mentary government in Budapest such as the present, forms a
384 The well-known leader of the Serb Liberal party in South Hungary,
whose integrity is a household word, and who for many years has been
a conspicuous opponent of the very regime in whose interests he is here
represented as acting.
3 6* Minister for Croatia in the Wekerle Cabinet.
226
DR. FRIEDJUNG'S "DOCUMENTS"
guarantee of decisive and unquestionable value for the Serb
race."
After a general disquisition on Servian policy, Spalajkovid
concluded by informing Pribicevid that " the chief of the
Servian Government " had decided to follow Supilo's advice
and spend his summer holidays on the Croatian coast,
"where he will await his political friends with a view to closer
contact." The report is signed " Dr. Miroslav Spalajkovi(^,
Bozovi6," the latter being ostensibly cashier in the Foreign
Office.
XXII, XXIII, XXIV. Minutes of three joint meetings of
the central committee of Slovenski Jug and of the Guerilla
Bands Committee, October 6 (ig) : October 20 (November 2),
1908 : and January 7 (20), 1909.
Professor Markovi6 as chairman. General Nicholas Ste-
fanovid gives his views as to the organization of bands for
the inroad into Bosnia, and states that he has received 750
rifles with 87,000 rounds for their equipment.
At the end of the Green Book there is a map, apparently
drawn up by the military authorities in Vienna to illustrate
the movements of the various guerilla bands referred to in
the last three " documents."
Of all the twenty-four " documents " not a single original
was forthcoming ; and Dr. Friedjung himself only saw the
original of one (No. II), and being ignorant of the Servian
language, could not in any case have tested their authenticity.
Counsel for the defence. Dr. Benedikt, did however produce
original photographs of three " documents," namely the
Slovenski Jug minutes of February 26, 1908 (II) and of January
22, 1909 (XVIII) and the money order of 6000 francs for Mr.
Supilo (III). Dr. Benedikt also claimed that the handwriting
of these minutes was identical and was that of Milan Stefanovi6,
the secretary of Slovenski Jug ; and as a further proof of this
he produced an original draft of the minutes of August 30,
1909, which had no direct bearing on the questions at issue
but would assist the experts in their comparison of the hand-
writing.
Counsel for the prosecution, Dr. Harpner, at once contested
the very existence of this Milan Stefanovi6, and summoned
the defence to supply information as to his identity, in order
that he might be called as a witness, like the other persons
227
THE FRIEDJUNG TRIAL
whose names figured prominently in the documents. Dr.
Benedikt showed a marked reluctance to comply with this
request, and argued that it is extremely difficult to prove the
existence of any one ! He promised, however, to endeavour
to find out about Stefanovic in Belgrad. Three days later
(December i6) during the cross-examination of Professor
Masaryk, Dr. Harpner reverted to this promise, and elicited
from Dr. Friedjung the statement that Stefanovic is " very
closely known by those to whom these minutes were delivered,"
and that he himself had read detailed descriptions of the
man's appearance. He had also written to the Austro-Hun-
garian Legation in Belgrad — in other words, to the receivers
of the " stolen documents " — asking if they could supply
the man's address. On December i8. Dr. Friedjung announced
the Legation's reply that Milan Stefanovic is a student, and
secretary of Slovenski Jug, and that though his address is
not known, he can be found daily at the Cafe Slavia. The
Legation also reported that there are seventy-nine persons of
that name in Belgrad, five of them being students. Dr.
Harpner 's further attempts to clear up this mysterious per-
sonality led the defence to shelter itself behind the dangers
which the purveyor of documents would incur if his identity
were made public.
in. The Evidence of Dr. Funder.
After Dr. Friedjung, Mr. Ambros, the responsible editor
of the Reichspost, had the opportunity of defending himself ;
but as he was universally recognized as a mere " straw-man,"
Dr. Friedrich Funder, the principal editor, was allowed to
give evidence on Ambros' behalf, and indeed not merely to
give evidence but to follow Dr. Friedjung's example by a
scarcely veiled plaidoyer.
Dr. Funder began by referring to the keen interest with
which the Reichspost had followed the Southern Slav question
for some years past. In attacking individual politicians of
Croatia, he and his paper had acted as Great Austrians and
as friends of the Croats, in the conviction that unworthy
elements were leading astray a brave and deserving nation.
As to the documents on which his charges were based, he
said, " I have seen them in places where only the most serious
documents are employed : I know their origin ; in most cases
I know how they were obtained and how carefully their authen-
228
THE EVIDENCE OF DR. FUNDER
ticity was tested." As early as 1905 the i^e^c/is^os^ published
letters from Croatia charging Supilo with accepting money
from Servia ; and on that occasion he contented himself
with an apology from Hrvatsko Pravo,^^ which had published
similar charges, and the Reichsposf was left unassailed. The
later articles which appeared in the Reichsposi in October
and November, 1908, were in the main based upon the Report
of Dr. Spalajkovic to the Servian Premier Dr. Pasic,^^^ the
genuineness of which he and Dr. Fried] ung had been able
to test from original photographs. " Moreover the genuine-
ness of our documents results not merely from the character
of a single document but far more from their mutual connex-
ion ; and as soon as one part of these documents, and indeed
the very part which contains the most serious charges, is
proved to be unquestionably genuine, then the whole chain
of evidence is complete." Dr. Funder might well have added
that if once this all-important document could be proved
to be unquestionably false, the whole chain of evidence would
fall to pieces. Doubtless that is his private opinion to-day.
Dr. Funder treated the Fiume Resolution not unfairly as
an act of anti-Austrian policy, but proceeded to draw from
this the altogether unwarrantable conclusion that its silence
as to the fate of Bosnia and Herzegovina proved that its
authors had promised those provinces to their allies in Belgrad !
He then cited Mr. Francis Kossuth's telegram of greeting
to the authors of the Resolution, Lengyel's speech in the
Hungarian Parliament on the possibilities of the Magyar-
Servian entente (December 12, 1907) and the advances made
by a Magyar deputation to the Turkish Minister in Belgrad
for Turkey's co-operation in the war against Austria. In
reply to counsel for the defence. Dr. Funder was obliged to
admit that no member of the Croato-Serb Coalition had been
present at the incidents to which he took exception, and that
he only wished to pourtray the milieu in which the Coali-
tion worked. As Dr. Harpner very rightly pointed out, it is
hardly fair to describe as a person's milieu incidents and places
in which he had never been.
After illustrating by various extracts from Novi List Supilo's
anti-Austrian motives in bringing about the Resolution of
Fiume, and his paramount share in its success. Dr. Funder
366 Organ of Dr. Joseph Frank and his party.
*«' See Appendix XIV and p. 225.
229
THE FRIEDJUNG TRIAL
criticised the cringing attitude at first adopted towards the
illegal Railway Bill of Kossuth and Szterenyi. Not content
with drawing up an absurdly mild peace formula Supilo made
a speech in the Hungarian Parliament — June 2, 1907 — in which
he refused to renounce his belief in the reliability of the
Magyars and implored them to reconsider the proposed
measure. 3^^ But, Dr. Funder argued, the enigmatic attitude
of Supilo, Pribicevid and their friends at that moment, is
explained by instructions which they had received from Bel-
grad, to preserve at all costs the entente with the Kossuthists
against Vienna.
IV. The Reichsposi " Documents."
Dr. Funder then laid before the Court the " documents "
upon which the Reichsposi had based its articles. They were
five in number, and were also submitted in a printed German
translation. 26» Of the five, two are identical with two of Dr.
Friedjung's " documents," namely A. the Spalajkovid Report
and C. the order of payment of 6,000 francs to Mr. Supilo.
There remain the three following : —
B. Instructions of the Servian Premier Dr. Pasic to Mr. J.
Tomic, librarian of the National Library in Belgrad,
in view of his secret mission to Agram. Dated from
the Servian Foreign Office, January 19 (Feb. i), 1908
(both Old and New Style are given).
The Servian Government has intentionally selected a non-
political personage for this mission on the eve of the Croatian
elections. Though entirely approving of the Fiume and Zara
Resolutions, " it looks with suspicion upon the attitude and
expressions of opinion of the leading Croatian politicians and
their newspapers, especially those of the Croatian Party of
Right, as the strongest element in the Coalition." Tomic
'*^ It is not easy for a foreigner to realize what else Mr. Supilo could
have done under the circumstances. Would Dr. Funder have had him
announce to his Chauvinist audience that he had never trusted; the Mag-
yar leaders and was therefore not in the least surprised at their breach
of faith ? Such action might perhaps have brought water to the Great
Austrian mill, but it would hardly have been worthy of so wary a
politican as Mr. Supilo.
*** Aktenstiicke zur grosserbischen Propaganda in Oesterreich-Ungarn.
Den Wiener Geschworenen unterbreitet von Dr. Friedrich Funder,
chefredakteur der Reichspost.
230
THE REICHSPOST "DOCUMENTS"
is to speak with Tuskan,^''" Surmin, Lorkovic,^'^ Magdic and
others, but not in the presence of persons connected with
Srbobran,^'"^ and to test their adherence to the ideas of the Fiume
Resolution. He is to reveal himself as an agent of the Servian
Government, and to explain that the latter, " as the most
important factor among the Southern Slavs to-day, not merely
wishes to be informed beforehand of the intentions and steps
undertaken by the Croats, but also that they should profit
by the opinion and advice of the Royal Government," which
is in a better position to judge matters from an international
point of view. Servia, as an independent state with a dynasty
of its own, has the first word among the Southern Slavs ;
solidarity must be attained, irrespective of political boun-
daries. Servia has been of great assistance to the Croat politi-
cians of Croatia and Dalmatia, " has won over the Slovene
and Czech leaders in Austria," " has placed almost all Southern
Slav newspapers of importance at the service of the Coalition's
aims, and finally has contributed materially to the Coalition's
electoral campaign." It has even induced the Serb Radicals
at the second ballots to back the candidates of the Coalition,
" though this party's good relations with Budapest form an
important factor in the special policy of the Kingdom of Ser-
via." Tomic is then to emphasize the advantages accruing
to the Coalition from Serb support and to claim increased
influence for the Serbs. An understanding with Budapest
lies in the interest of Servia and the Serb race, and would be
a guarantee for the position of the Serbs in Bosnia. Servia
requires friends and kinsmen in the Government of Croatia,
who might " help to prevent the fate of Bosnia being decided
by foreigners." " Bosnia must be reserved politically to the
Orthodox and Moslem elements, and in this there can be no
compromise. . . . This is a conditio sine qua non, without
which Servia and the Serbs will go their own way." Friend-
ship with the Magyars is of great importance to the Serb
race.
Tomic is to induce the Croat politicians to agree upon joint
principles of action, to be embodied in a formal document.
Servia intends to send a retired diplomat to live in Agram,
ostensibly for private study, but really as a go-between with
Servia.
*'° President of the party mentioned.
*" The two leaders of the Croat Progressives.
"2 Organ of the Serb Independent Party.
231
THE FRIEDJUNG TRIAL
D. Memorial of the Slovenski Jug to the Foreign Minister,
Dr. Milovanovic. Dated 17 (30) January, 1909.
Signed by Professor Ljub. Jovanovic, President of the
Skupstina, as Vice-President of Slovenski Jug.
This long-winded memorial proclaims " the national salva-
tion of Bosnia and Herzegovina " to be the club's first duty.
Servia's efforts to prevent an understanding between Austria
a nd Turkey would be materially assisted, if the Moslems of
Bosnia could be induced to abandon their passive attitude.
The two provinces must be claimed by Servia. Even the
most extensive autonomy " under the Viennese Emperor "
would merely " mean the creation of a new miserable Croatia
where there is no place for the Serbs." The Narodna Obrana,
or Committee of Defence, will be ready for action within forty
days and " our bloody protest " will force Servia to move.
No one in Servia would consent to Montenegro receiving
part of Herzegovina. " The Bocche, Spizza and Albania
are there, and the Prince can get his son-in-law to help him
to an increase of territory in that direction." All the Slovenski
Jug's endeavours to win Russian and Italian support " for
the Serb cause are hampered by " the gentleman in Cetinje."
Dr. Milovanovic's admissions of decreasing support from
Europe had exercised a depressing effect upon the Bosnian
Serb leaders. The memorial goes on to criticize the Foreign
Minister's policy in a highly argumentative and depreciatory
tone, and declines in the name of Slovenski Jug and the Narodna
Obrana to continue the tactics by which the Ministry has
attained " these wretched results." The two societies cannot
contribute one farthing to the Srpska Rijec nor " to the Bos-
nian advocates in Budapest, especially as the Serbs of Sara-
jevo are rich enough to maintain their newspaper without aid
from Belgrad. " The two committees are confronted just at
present by great tasks, caused by Bosnian affairs." Mean-
while they have contributed as much as 54,000 francs in aid
of the victims of the Agram trial, and in order to assure their
proper defence have " since the date when this matter was
entrusted to them by the Ministry, paid over a further sum
of 7,000 dinars to advocates in the Triune Kingdom through
Mr. Lukinic. We have subventioned the press of the Triune
Kingdom with close on 30,000 dinars, without counting the
28,000 crowns which we sent in two instalments to Budapest
and which were employed by Messrs. Supilo and Banjanin
232
THE REICHSPOST "DOCUMENTS"
according to their approval, for the Hungarian papers." The
Slovenski Jug further urges the Foreign Office to advance
money for action in the Hungarian Press, through Mr. Tomic
or Dr. Poht.3"3 It has already agreed to print pamphlets for
the defence in the Agram trial, and has " ensured the appear-
ance at the proceedings in Agram of a large number of editors
and correspondents of the fraternal Russian and Czech Press
and also from England."
E. Instructions of the Servian Foreign Minister Dr. Milo-
vanovic to the Servian Minister in Vienna. 4 (17)
April 1909.
This " document " consists of a lengthy disquisition upon
Servian foreign policy, the attitude of " the Cabinet of St.
James," and other matters of international policy. I have
translated it in extenso in Appendix XV, so that the reader
may judge for himself how far the Ballplatz is likely to have
been the dupe, rather than the inspirer, of such crude forgeries.
After the documents had been read, Dr. Funder's
examination was resumed. When pressed as to whether
he had seen the originals, he pleaded official secrecy as a reason
for not answering, and in this he was supported by the Court.
When pressed by the plaintiff's counsel, however, he admitted
that he had received the documents " from such a source
that I, and with me every journalist in Austria, could not fail
to be convinced, ' here I am certain to get something good ',"
Not knowing the Cyrilline alphabet, he could not in any case
have read the originals, but they were regarded in the highest
circles — an leitender Stelle — as unquestionably genuine, and
this was enough for him. " The work of Messrs. Supilo, Lukinic
and Pribicevic," he concluded, " are the destruction of the
consciousness of the state among their own people, conspiracy
and plotting with the enemies of the Monarchy. It was our
patriotic duty to oppose such intrigues. I can only hope most
earnestly that the Croat and Serb people of the Monarchy,
freed from individuals who have poisoned its present, are
on the eve of a happier future."
Cross-examined by Dr. Popovic, Dr. Funder was obliged
to admit that he had no proof whatever that the sum of 12,000
francs alleged to have been paid by the Servian Government
to Svetozar Pribicevic, had actually been paid over. He
'" The leaders of two rival sections of Serb opinion in Hungary, and
bitter enemies of each other.
233
THE FRIED] UNG TRIAL
had assumed that it had been paid because the " minutes "
stated that it would be paid.
In reply to a further question of Dr. Popovic, he claimed
to have carefully verified the facts referred to in the various
documents on which he based his charges. Great then was
his embarrassment, and that of Dr. Friedjung, when the able
Serb advocate pointed out that in the " minutes " of Slovenski
Jug of March lo (February 26 O.S.), 1908, 6,000 dinars are
alleged to have been voted in aid of " the impending elections "
in Croatia, whereas in reality the elections had already taken
place on February 26. Dr. Funder was reduced to silence,
and Dr. Friedjung was constrained to make an admission
peculiarly galling for a historian of European reputation : —
" Knowing that the elections took place early in the year —
im FrUhjahre — I can say with a calm mind, that I did not
inquire more closely into the date of the elections." The
feeble effort of defending counsel to throw doubt upon the
accuracy of the printed German translation published by
their client, was promptly silenced by the sworn translator
referring to the photograph of the " original." To the plea
of the Judge that a forger would have taken care not to put
an obviously wrong date upon the documents. Dr. Harpner
retorted that he would prove in the course of the proceedings
that the forger had reckoned with very stupid people !
In order to obtain an authoritative statement as to the
date of the elections, the Judge sent an official telegram
to the Croatian Government, and on Monday, 13th, he
read out the reply in court. Although Baron Ranch's
Government was straining every nerve to ruin the Coalition
and was actually at the very moment scattering flyleaves
broadcast in the streets of Agram, announcing the plaintiffs
in the trial to be fatally compromised, it might still have
been expected that it would adhere strictly to the facts in
its answer to Dr. Wach's inquiry. But the telegram after
correctly stating that the elections took place on February
27 and 28, and that the Diet was opened on March 12
and prorogued on March 14, continued as follows : " Since
this Diet has not yet formally constituted itself, the second
ballots could not take place as yet." As Dr. Harpner at
once pointed out, this statement was flagrantly untrue,
as at least five of the plaintiffs had been actually elected
at second ballots. A second telegram finally elicited an
234
THE EVIDENCE OF BARON CHLUMECKY
accurate reply ; the second ballots in those constituencies
where no candidate had obtained an absolute majority,
took place on February 27 and 28 and March 5 and 10 :
certain deputies however had been elected in more than
one constituency, and as the prorogation had left them no
time to state formally which they had selected, certain
bye-elections were still necessary.
The defence tried to argue that the contested passage in
the " document " referred to a second general election
which Ranch was contemplating within a few days of the
result of the first ! Dr. Harpner brushed this quibble
aside by citing the phrase, " The Frank and Starcevic Party
must be defeated." On March 10 — the date of the
document — this party was already defeated, and hence
the phrase could not possibly refer to a second election.^'*
At the conclusion of Dr. Funder's examination, the Court
dealt with a number of proposals for the hearing of fresh
witnesses, and a lengthy discussion arose as to the appointment
of experts to deal with the handwriting of Dr. Friedjung's
photographs. The names suggested were Professor von Jagic,
the foremost Slavistic scholar of the present day, and Dr.
Uebersberger, lecturer in East European history at Vienna.
The Judge, however, took the strange view that the court
interpreter would be able to do all that was required and that
no special expert was needed. His reasons for such an attitude
were soon to become apparent.
V. The Evidence of Baron Chlumecky.
The first witness for the defence was now called, in the
person of Baron Leopold Chlumecky, son of the distinguished
financier and railway director.
Baron Chlumecky, who is 35 years of age, is at present a
member of the Moravian Diet, a director of the Austrian Lloyd,
political editor of the well-known review ester reichische
Rundschau, and author of an extremely able and interesting
but violent book on Austria-Hungary and Italy. He began
his career as a junior official in the Bezirkshauptmannschaft
— Prefecture — of Ragusa, and in this post one of his most im-
portant duties was the supervision of the elaborate system of
"* It is probable that the forgers, in concocting this " document,"
confused the Old and New Styles.
235
THE FRIEDJUNG TRIAL
espionage maintained by Austria in the former Republic
of Ragusa and along the Montenegrin frontier. ^'^ At that
period the Serb and Italian parties jointly held the commune
of Ragusa in their power and enjoyed the support of the local
Dalmatian Government. The Croats conducted a bitter
opposition against the Serbs, and the local organ of the Croat
party, the Crvena Hrvatska, was edited by Mr. Supilo, then
an unknown journalist. Baron Chlumecky at first inclined
towards the Serbs, but confessed to having been greatly
influenced by a conversation with Baron Kallay, the adminis-
trator of Bosnia, who exposed to him the secret aims of the
Serb parties and called out to him as he left, " Le serbisme,
voila I'ennemi." Henceforward Chlumecky leant more and
more towards the Croat party, and even went so far as to
admit that the policy of Vienna towards the Croats was un-
just. This attitude earned him the disapproval of his superiors,
and he was transferred to the small Dalmatian port of Makar-
ska. In Ragusa he had made the acquaintance of Mr. Supilo,
and even after his return to Vienna they corresponded from
time to time.
Such are the circumstances which would appear to have
induced the defence to summon Baron Chlumecky as a wit-
ness, though it is not easy to understand the grounds upon
which the Judge allowed him to be called at this stage of the
proceedings. As will appear presently, his evidence had abso-
lutely no bearing upon the libel, and took the form of an
attempt to smirch the private honour of Mr. Supilo.
" One thing I know," he assured the Court, " that Mr. Supilo
received supplies from private Austrian sources, which were
certainly not large sums of money but none the less were
calculated to assist him in the precarious monetary circum-
'"^ " Dr. Harpner : What were you there ?
Witness : I was secretary — Konzipist — at the Prefecture. In a
frontier country where a movement known to be dangerous to the State
exists, it is a matter of course that the authorities do not confine them-
selves to documentary information, but draw their information as
thoroughly as possible from real life. That happens all over the world.
Everywhere the authorities have ways and means of getting informa-
tion otherwise than by documents. In this extraordinary caution is
observed. First of all the individuals and their reliability are tested,
and then their information is accepted by no means readily. Traps are
laid for them, in order to prove their trustworthiness. It is clear that
the authorities deny their relations to such spies, for they can never
reveal their sources, otherwise they would learn nothing. K&llay con-
sidered it necessary also to have a spy in Ragusa."
236
THE EVIDENCE OF BARON CHLUMECKY
stances in which he then found himself. In the same way
Kallay's agent informed me that he also made material grants
to Mr. Supilo." As an illustration of Mr. Supilo's attitude on
the Servian question, Baron Chlumecky then proceeded to
read aloud the following extract from a letter written to him
by Supilo on August 13, igoi. "I have in my hands the draft
of a conspiracy between Mohammedans and Greek Orientals
devised against the existing order of things in Bosnia. The
draft is printed in Belgrad." Needless to say, this letter
served to increase the growing sensation in court and to con-
firm the impression that Supilo, as a venal agent of the Austrian
Government, was in the habit of transmitting to Chlumecky
secret denunciations of his Serb enemies. It was not till the
following Monday — December 13 — when Baron Chlumecky' s
version of the facts had held the field for forty-eight hours
and the entire Viennese press had employed the Sunday
interval in heaping abuse upon Supilo's defenceless head —
that the full text of the letter was read aloud in court. The
correct version of the passage quoted by Chlumecky runs as
follows : — " I have in my hands the draft of a conspiracy
between Mohammedans and Greek Orientals devised against
the existing order of things in Bosnia. / shall publish it with
comments in an article in Novi List, and think that it will be an
interesting matter. The draft is printed in Belgrad." Thus
it appears that Baron Chlumecky deliberately suppressed a
sentence which would have given the affair a wholly different
complexion — ^behaviour which seems all the more inexcusable
in view of the fact that the draft of which Supilo wrote had
already become the public property of the entire Agram
press, before its contents were published in Novi List.
Questioned as to the sources from which Mr. Supilo received
money, Baron Chlumecky stated that sums of 20 to 30 crowns
had been paid over by the Bosnian agent, and also that on one
occasion a private individual had paid Supilo 200 crowns {£^),
as an earnest of his maintaining his anti-Serb attitude. At
this point Mr. Supilo rose and said : " I declare solemnly on
my word of honour that up till 1903 I was an enemy of the
Serbs." (Cries from the plaintiffs : " We know that ! ")
The Judge : "Is it true that you took money for pursuing
this policy ? "
Supilo (in great excitement) : "I declare that I have never
in my life taken a kreuzer from any one, neither for my policy
nor for altering it . . . neither as subvention nor as charity."
237
THE FRTEDJUNG TRIAL
In answer to further questions of Judge and counsel, Supilo
denied the charge more emphatically than ever. " Then,"
said the Judge, " the witness must be lying. ... I call upon
the witness to name the person who gave Mr. Supilo the 200
crowns." Whereupon Baron Chlumecky replied, " If it must
be so, well and good," adding ' with a dramatic gesture,' ^78 " i
myself gave him them."
The sensation in court was profound, but a few incredulous
laughs were heard from among the plaintiffs. And here the
Judge, yielding completely to the excitement of the moment,
exclaimed, " Gentlemen, there is nothing to laugh at. We
have just heard that Mr. Supilo here in open court has broken
his word of honour, and you will have to consider carefully
whether you wish to have further intercourse with such a
man." (Turning to the witness.) " So you can testify under
oath that you gave Mr. Supilo at least 200 crowns in view of
his political attitude ? "
Witness : " Solely with a view to his political attitude."
Judge : " Then there is no more to be said. Mr. Supilo
has given his word of honour and has broken it. (Turning
to Supilo) I have no further question to put to you."
When Dr. Harpner asked Supilo what he had to say, he
could only vaguely stammer, " I can find no words." " That
I can believe," cried the Judge. " Now I can easily under-
stand the letter too. When you write to the Baron that a
conspiracy is on foot in Bosnia, it can only mean that you
simply want more money. That is the whole explanation."
This exciting scene continued. Asked by Supilo where he
had handed over the money, Chlumecky stated that he had
done so on the open street in Ragusa, on leaving a political
conference at the house of Kallay's agent, and when Supilo
persisted in his denial, the witness raised his voice and repeated
his accusation more emphatically than ever, the Judge promptly
backing him up with the words, " Nothing could be clearer :
there can be no challenging that."
But Supilo, dazed as he was and intimidated by the violence
of the Judge, stood his ground and continued in his stubborn
peasant's way to deny his guilt. He had once visited Chlu-
mecky in Vienna, he said, and the latter had requested him to
keep him informed on political conditions in Dalmatia. On
the same occasion Baron Chlumecky had spoken of being a
subscriber to Novi List ; but though the paper was sent to
3' 8 Times, December 13, 1909.
238
THE EVIDENCE OF BARON CHLUMECKY
him for years, he never paid his subscription in spite of some-
thing like twenty formal reminders. Here the Judge again
broke in : " You would really do better to keep a little more
closely to the truth." " What I say," rejoined Supilo, " is
the pure truth." " What interest," cried the Judge, " could
the witness have in committing the offence of perjury ? "
" In order to annihilate him politically," came in chorus
from the Croatian deputies, who had followed the whole scene
with pardonable excitement. Baron Chlumecky indignantly
protested, " Perhaps you fight with such arguments, but not
I." And the Judge, red with anger, rose from the Bench and
shouted at the plaintiffs ^" the now famous words, " I must
request you, gentlemen. We are here in Vienna. I need say
no more ; but I can't allow such things here. In this country —
hei uns — that is out of the question."
When the various parties had recovered their calm, Baron
Chlumecky's place as witness was taken by Mr. William
Dorotka, editor of Ustavnost, Baron Ranch's most venomous
organ, and one of the leaders of the campaign of calumny
directed for the previous two years against the Croat o-Serb
Coalition. If there is one man whom every native Dalmatian
would decline to accept as an impartial witness on Dalmatian
affairs, that man is Baron Chlumecky. If there is one man
whom every native of Croatia would decline to accept as an
impartial witness on Croatian politics,that man is Mr. Dorotka.^'^
This, of course, accounts for their being summoned as witnesses
in atrial whose whole mise-en-scene wa.s inspired by the motto
Divide et imp era.
- Dorotka related a conversation which he had had in 1903 with
Count Ladislas Szapary, then Governor of Fiume. According
to the latter, Supilo came regularly to him for orders, with the
^" I quote the very words of the reporter of the Neue Freie Presse,
who certainly cannot be accused of partiality for the plaintiffs [Riift
schreiend und hochangerotet den Ankldgern zu).
^" Every Croat will admit this to be an understatement of the facts.
But for the benefit of British readers I may mention that within a
couple of days of Ranch's fall Ustavnost ceased to appear.
In the course of conversation with a Dalmatian official some nine
months before the trial, I happened to ask him his opinion upon a
recent article of Baron Chlumecky on Dalmatia — Oesterreichische
Rundschau — whose violence had caused some stir. My friend, an
Austrian of the Austrians, avoided a direct expression of opinion, but
significantly remarked, " Why, Chlumecky is the best hated man in
Dalmatia."
239
THE FRIEDJUNG TRIAL
obsequious phrase, " Che commanda Eccelenza, Che io sc.riva."
" I gave him the information," added Szapary, " and every time
put my hand to my pocket-book and gave him 5 gulden "
(8s.).
Once more Mr. Supilo was at a loss for words and fell a victim
to the Judge's sarcasm ; but he explicitly denied having ever
spoken with Count Szapary or having ever been at his house.
At this point the proceedings were broken off, and as it was
Saturday afternoon, the general public was left for forty-eight
hours under the impression of the charges against Mr, Supilo,
which were none the less damaging because entirely irrelevant
to the question at issue ; and the defence had scored a tactical
success, thanks to the skill with which the course of the pro-
ceedings had been adjusted to the week-end pause. Next
morning the entire Viennese press fell upon Mr. Supilo with all
the violence of inspiration ; and the Neue Freie Presse, the
foremost advocate of Count Aehrenthal's policy, outbid all its
rivals in treating the Croatian leader's guilt as a chose jugee.
" To-day in court the spine of the deputy Supilo was broken.
A political corpse hangs with shattered bones upon the gal-
lows " . . . — such are merely the opening words of a leading
article which is a monument of bad taste and political bias.
But the mot d'ordre which had inspired this general press
onslaught failed to produce the desired intimidation. On the
one hand Mr. Supilo, anxious that the charges against his
person should not confuse the real issues of the trial, loyally
announced his withdrawal from the Coalition ; and on the
other hand his colleagues, realizing the deep-laid intrigues with
which they had to deal, and strengthened in their resolve by
such courageous champions as Professor Masaryk, showed them-
selves more determined than ever to establish their innocence
in the teeth of a hostile court.
Mr. Supilo vigorously organized the defence of his own cause,
and was fortunate in securing the services of an able advocate,
Dr. Walter Rode. Henceforth the Supilo-Chlumecky feud
runs like an uneven thread through the main texture of the
trial ; but as it does not in any way affect the main issues
involved, I have thought it better to treat it as an entirely
separate incident and to assign to it a separate chapter of its
own.
VI. The Attitude of the Court.
Monday's proceedings were taken up by a large number of
240
THE ATTITUDE OF THE COURT
miscellaneous incidents — proposals and counter proposals by
the rival counsel and the discussion of various points which I
have preferred to treat in their proper context rather than in
the accidental order in which they were brought before the
court. More than one sharp passage of arms occurred, and Dr.
Harpner took his revenge for the opening polemics of the defend-
ants by asserting that he would prove " that all these docu-
ments produced by Dr. Friedjung are a clumsy forgery, which
any person of any perception could detect at the first
glance."
Before the Court rose, General Tomicic, one of the plaintiffs,
was called as witness and cross-examined by the Judge as to a
Report of the Austro-Hungarian military attache in Belgrad
describing the movements of Servian guerilla bands along the
Bosnian frontier. The General expressed his belief that such
a report deserved to be taken seriously, as the result of careful
inquiries ; but urged that the Chief of the General Staff, General
von Hotzendorf, was the most competent person to express an
opinion and should therefore be called as witness.
Dr. Friedjung in laying before the Court the alleged report
of Dr. Spalajkovic, indulged in a violent attack upon its
" author." Referring to Spalajkovic's reported intention of
giving evidence in person, he said, " We shall see whether Dr.
Spalajkovic possesses the courage to fulfil this announcement.
I shall then have the opportunity of proving that this gentleman
held in his hands the threads of Pan-Serb agitation in Bosnia
and Croatia ; and while I would fain conduct my lawsuit with
the Serb and Croat subjects of our Monarchy calmly and with a
certain restraint, shall proceed mercilessly against this Mr.
Spalajkovic as the foreign instigator of treasonable intrigues,
and shall give him a passport {Geleithrief) for his diplomatic
career which he will not be anxious to produce." Such a dia-
tribe, obviously inspired by a fervent if somewhat narrow
patriotism, came naturally enough from the mouth of Dr.
Friedjung. But while we may find excuses for a defendant in
a political trial indulging in threats against a witness, none can
be found for the omission of the Court to repress such excesses,
for such an omission is dangerously akin to intimidation, especi-
ally when the object of the attack is a foreigner.
The attitude of the Court became still clearer on the fourth
day when the prosecution submitted telegrams received by
Professor Masaryk, the well-known leader of the Czech Realists,
from Dr. Milovanovid, the Servian Foreign Minister, and from
S.S.Q. 241 R
THE FRIEDJUNG TRIAL
Dr. Simic, the Servian Minister in Vienna. ^''^ Though bearing
directly upon the most weighty of all the " documents " and
proceeding from the foremost person affected by the charge —
Dr. Milovanovic — they were not admitted as evidence, the
Judge curtly remarking, " It has been said to be a matter of
course that official circles must always deny such things."
This decision betrays the tendency of both the defence and the
Judge himself to throw discredit upon declarations coming
from Servia. It was, moreover, a challenge none the less
evident because not expressed in words ; for it placed Messrs.
Milovanovic and Simic before the difficult alternative of defy-
ing all diplomatic precedents by giving evidence in person, or
of seeming to shrink guiltily from a course to which interna-
tional not personal considerations offered the real obstacle.
Dr. Benedikt was not slow to follow up this advantage, and
proceeded to expatiate on the dangers involved for the Servian
witnesses in their appearance before the Court. If the docu-
ments are genuine, he argued, then all the persons mentioned
in them, even though foreigners, are by Austrian law guilty
of high treason and liable to the penalties which that offence
involves. Notably the Servian Minister of the Interior, Dr.
Jovanovic, is believed to be a fugitive Austrian subject and
might consequently have an unpleasant reception : still more
so then Mr. Godjevac, who as President of the Servian Bands
Committee arranged the despatch of bombs to Austria. 2^°
" I am far from protesting against these gentlemen coming,"
added Dr. Benedikt. " In my private capacity there is noth-
ing I would do more reluctantly than help to create a trial for
treason. If it be said that the documents are false, then all
danger is averted — that is : if this finds belief." Dr. Funder's
counsel expressed the same view even more strongly. " Let
379 <'jjj reply to your telegram I can categorically declare that the
Fried jung documents, in so far as they concern the Servian Government
and Servian diplomacy, are not only false, but that no veritable docu-
ment of this kind can exist, because neither Supilo nor Pribicevic nor
Medakovic nor any one of those whom Fried jung has drawn into the
affair, has ever, on any score whatever, directly or indirectly, received
money from the Servian Government, and because the Servian Govern-
ment has never organized nor subsidized, nor had any knowledge
whatever of such intrigues as are laid by Fried] ung to the charge of the
Serbo-Croatian Coalition. I add that my alleged instructions to the
Servian Minister at Vienna and to the Servian Consul at Budapest are
gross inventions of a forger equally ignorant of the form of our written
intercourse and of the fundamental lines of our policy " — translation as
given in Times of December 14, 1909.
"" According to No. 23, see p. 227.
242
THE ATTITUDE OF THE COURT
the gentlemen from Servia come if they want to. But every
one will be prepared to draw the consequences. This building
contains another authority also, ^^^ and I don't know what con-
sequences that authority will draw from false evidence."
All this was hardly encouraging, and all that Dr. Harpner
could do was to emphasize the fact that despite all these thinly-
veiled threats nothing could happen to any one in a legal state
like Austria, on the basis of forged documents. He therefore
appealed to those who were in a position to prove the forgery
to trust themselves to the Court.
Next day Dr. Benedikt returned to the charge. He pro-
tested against Professor Masaryk's action in publishing Dr.
Milovanovic's telegram in the Viennese press and argued
that in other countries this would amount to grave contempt
of court. Then, by way of illustrating the view that no Ser-
vian can be trusted to tell the truth, he proceeded to cite
statistics of the political murders which had taken place in Ser-
via previous to the year 1895 ! ! As 1,200 murders were com-
mitted on an average every year in Servia, and as there were
only 2,000 persons actually in prison, it followed that ten or
twenty thousand murderers are at large in the country — the
tacit inference from this being that the witnesses proposed
by prosecuting counsel belonged to this numerous army of
criminals. This was too much for the Judge, who aptly pointed
out that the Kingdom of Servia was not the subject of the
present trial. ^^^ The defence had, however, secured its
object, which was to prejudice the jury still further against the
Servians.
Hereupon the Judge announced the decision of the Court not
to cite the Servian witnesses, first because it had no means of
enforcing compliance, second because it seemed inadmissible
to demand the presence of persons who would incur serious
dangers under the terms of the Austrian Penal Code (§§ 38
and 58c), and thirdly because in giving evidence they might be
hampered by their duty as citizens and by pledges of official
secrecy. If, however, any of them chose to present themselves
voluntarily within the next four days, the Court would be
willing to hear their evidence.
It must be admitted that after all these amiable prelimin-
aries, it required considerable courage on the part of the impli-
"' Viz., the police.
**- Needless to say, I do not guarantee the accuracy of Dr. Benedikt's
statistics.
243
THE FRIEDJUNG TRIAL
cated Servians to appear before the Court. None the less,
Professor Bozidar Markovic, the President of the Slovenski
Jug and the alleged leader of the terrorist organization in
Belgrad, had already arrived in Vienna, and was now sum-
moned as a witness.
Before, however, this important witness was heard, Dr.
Fried jung made an interesting statement as to the origin of
his documents. His informants had since November, 1907,
been in a position to secure the minutes of each meeting of
Slovenski Jug soon after they were drawn up. The originals
were brought each time by a paid agent, " who was naturally
regarded with suspicion, since he plied an ugly trade." (Dr.
Fried] ung did not stop to inquire how far the receiver of stolen
goods is superior to the thief.) They were then either copied or
at once translated or photographed, and the originals were then
handed back to the agent, who restored them to their proper
place. That photographs could not be supplied in every case,
was due to the fact that no libel action was in view at the time.
The main object of this traffic in stolen documents — or as. Dr.
Friedjung more elegantly put it, " this watchfulness of the
factors in question " — was to secure information as to military
movements on the southern frontier and as to possible intrigues
in Bosnia ; Croatia was only a secondary consideration. A
regular archive was placed at Dr. Friedjung's disposal, and for
weeks he studied " hundreds and hundreds " of these docu-
ments, including at least as many documents from Slovenski
Jug as those which he had laid before the Court.^^^ When war
with Servia seemed inevitable, he held it to be his duty to
make use of this material and wrote the article in the Neue
Freie Presse, which was to be the first of a series. During the
advance of the Austrian army across the Save, he had
intended to publish the various documents, and thus to prove
to Europe, " that Austria-Hungary had been compelled by
Servia's perfidious relations to dishonest elements in our
Monarchy, to resort to arms." On the very day of publication,
however, Crown Prince George was obliged to resign his rights
to the throne, and the danger of war gradually diminished.
When Dr. Harpner pressed for the name of the man who sup-
plied the documents, Dr. Friedjung rejoined, " I must confess
I was not prepared for such naivete on the part of Dr. Harpner.
I know the man. But do you believe that in a country where
383 j^Q vvronder that spies like Nastic are able to save enough money in
a couple of years, to open a cafe in Vienna.
244
THE EVIDENCE OF PROFESSOR MARKOViC
so many political murders take place, this man would be
spared if what he has done became known ? . . . I hand over
nobody to the gallows," he added, " I regard the question as
ridiculous." Needless to say, the real reason for not revealing
his name lay in the natural fear of Count Aehrenthal that his
principal spy might indulge in awkward revelations concerning
the methods of the Ballplatz.
Asked by his own counsel whether he would characterize
more closely the source from which he had received the docu-
ments, Dr. Friedjung pointed out that this was immaterial to
the question of their authenticity. Dr. Funder, as a busy
journalist, was perfectly entitled if he received a document
from " leading circles," to regard it as genuine and make use of
it without further examination. " But / am not in this agree-
able situation. For scientific investigations there is no author-
ity .. . for science knows no authority, but only reasons."
In other words, he once more staked his reputation as a
historian of scientific methods upon the issue of the trial.
VII. The Evidence of Professor Markovic.
Mr. Markovic, Professor of Criminal Law at Belgrad Univer-
sity, is a pleasant type of young Servian " Gelehrte " and cer-
tainly does not convey the impression of a secret terrorist or
an organizer of bomb conspiracies. At the request of the Judge
he began by describing the activity of the Slovenski Jug, which
had originally been founded in 1902 — not in 1904 as Dr. Fried-
jung had asserted — by twenty or thirty young enthusiasts, as
a students' club. The columns of their organ, Slovenski Jug,
which began to appear in November, 1903, give the best idea of
the aims of the club. It organized a Southern Slav art exhibi-
tion in Belgrad in 1903, a congress of Bulgarian and Servian
students at Sofia in 1904, and took an active interest in all
cultural affairs of the Southern Slavs. In 1906 it was trans-
formed into an ordinary citizens' club ; and on March 11 of
that year a mixed committee drew up the statutes. It never
had any relations to the Servian Government, but received a
subsidy of 400 francs a month from the Belgrad Town Council,
to enable it to maintain a public reading-room. Markovic
was elected President of the club in July, 1907, but he had
spoken with the Servian Premier, Dr. Pasic, for the first and
last time in the autumn of 1909.38^
^"^ Not in February, 1908, as Document I states {See p. 216).
245
THE FRIED] UNG TRIAL
Professor Markovic next proceeded to deny wholesale the
authenticity of the alleged minutes of the Slovenski Jug. No
central committee — Zentralleitung — had ever existed : no
report had ever been submitted by the club to Prince George.
No one of the name of Jovanovic was ever vice-president.
He himself had never been in Salonica, though he was repre-
sented as conferring with the Young Turk Committee there.
More than one of the alleged meetings had never taken place
at all. Above all, the minutes of October 21 (November 3),
1908, were an obvious forgery, for so far from presiding over
a meeting in Belgrad on that date, he had actually been in Ber-
lin since early in October, attending lectures on penal law and
making the acquaintance of eminent German jurists such as
Professor von Liszt. Both his arrival and departure were duly
intimated to the police, and his statements could be verified,
as also the fact that he had stopped en route at certain hotels
in Vienna and Budapest which he indicated by name. On
November i, 1908, the club almost ceased to exist, because the
Town Council discontinued its subsidy ; and the reading-room
had to be closed until November, 1909. Markovi6 further
denied having ever met General Stefanovic and Dr. Godjevac,
whose presence is recorded in the minutes of October 6, 1908
(No. xxii). The Slovenski Jug had never held joint sittings
with the Bands Committee ; a committee of National Defence
(Narodna Obrana) did indeed exist in Belgrad, and still exists,
but he had no knowledge of its proceedings and had never
belonged to it. He had never heard of bombs being prepared,
or even kept on the premises of the Slovenski Jug. The minutes
of the meetings of the society were kept by the secretary ; this
post was held during Markovic's time as President, by three
different men, but no one of the name of Milan Stefanovic had
ever been secretary, and Markovic knew no such person either
in Belgrad or in the rest of Servia. When shown Dr. Fried-
jung's photographs, he was unable to recognize either them or
their handwriting.
The explicit nature of Markovic's denials and his determined
bearing were not without their effect even upon the supporters
of the defendants, and by way of redressing the balance, coun-
sel for the Reichspost in a loud voice demanded of the witness
whether he regarded regicide as justifiable. When the excited
protests of the plaintiffs had died down — voices were heard
repeating the Judge's already famous phrase, " We are here in
Vienna " — Professor Markovic declined to answer ; and Dr.
246
THE EVIDENCE OF PROFESSOR MARKOVIC
Kienbock added the still more offensive comment, " That also
is an answer." Even this was surpassed next day by Dr.
Benedikt, who inquired, " Is it usual in Belgrad to fabricate
bombs in the reading-rooms, in order to blow up the Prince of
Montenegro ? "
Witness (excitedly). I won't answer that question.
Dr. Benedikt : Even that answer is quite enough for us.
Dr. Harpner : I beg to point out that the defendants, but
no one else, call your veracity in question.
The witness was now subjected by Dr. Fried] ung and the
defending counsel to a minute and vigorous cross-examination,
in the course of which, while remaining absolutely consistent
on every point, he showed an occasional tendency to quibble
and a rather too marked disinclination to furnish his opponent
with even the most trifling facts. For instance, he had
previously stated the perfectly correct fact that there is no
" Doctor Stefanovic " in the Servian Foreign Office. He now
admitted that there is an official called Dragomir Stefanovic in
that office, and that " Dr. Stefanovic " might in Servian stand
either for " Doctor " or for " Dragomir," but that the Dragomir
in question did not possess the degree of doctor, and had in-
formed the witness before he left Belgrad that on principle he
never signed himself "Dr.," lest he should appear to be sailing
under false colours. ^^^ The defence, not without some show of
reason, complained that Professor Markovic might at least have
volunteered this information, without waiting for it to be wrung
from him ; but in roundly charging him with suppression and
distortion of the facts — eine riickhdltige hinterhdltige Aussage —
Dr. Benedikt was guilty of gross exaggeration and failed to
allow for the resentment of a man whose name had been mis-
used upon a colossal scale and whose country had been grossly
insulted — ^whether with or without provocation, is immaterial —
by the defendants.
The defence next tried to press home the argument that it was
well-nigh incredible that a man engaged in politics like Markovic,
should be unacquainted with so many of the chief political
figures in Belgrad, all the more so as the Servian capital still
has barely 100,000 inhabitants. In reply, Markovi6 pointed
out that he was an university professor, and his first occupa-
^*^ It is by no means unusual in continental countries for persons with
the degree of doctor, to prefix that title to their signature in more or
less formal letters or in documents.
247
THE FRIED] UNG TRIAL
tion was scientific study (Wissenschaft) ; he could naturally
give more information about the academic and legal world than
about the generals or medical men of Belgrad. Dr. Friedjung
was unwise enough to express astonishment that Markovic
should have selected for a three weeks' visit to Berlin " the
most exciting period which the Kingdom of Servia had gone
through for years " — forgetting that this very fact, if proved,
supplied a very strong presumptive proof against Professor
Markovic's activity as the leader of a revolutionary committee.
How was it that one of the most fervent patriots, one of the
most decided politicians in the country, went abroad just at
this very moment ? The obvious reply came that he was
neither a determined nor an active politician and that for him
"Wissenschaft" really was more important than politics.
Here Dr. Benedikt, promptly changing his ground, inquired
whether it was not considered more politic that the president
of the insurrection committee and of the Slovenski Jug should
not be in Parliament ?
Witness : " But according to this account, the President
of the Skupshtina is my Vice-president.
Dr. Benedikt : It is a curious thing, that at the joint meeting
of the central direction of Slovenski Jug and the Bands Com-
mitee, Jovanovic was not present." This is a distinctly unfair
quibble on the part of Dr. Benedikt, for the " minutes " of
the previous meeting of the " central direction " do contain the
name of Mr. Jovanovic.^^^
Next day (December 14) the cross-examination' was re-
newed. Markovic stoutly denied all knowledge of bombs
having found their way into the premises of Slovenski Jug, as
the informer Nastic had asserted in the Agram High Treason
trial, and insisted that Nastic's evidence was false from begin-
ning to end. A little later he admitted that the newspaper
Slovenski Jug was since June 3, 1907 — ^the date of his own
election as President — the organ of the club. This admission
formed a pretext for fresh tirades on the part of the defendants,
who argued that he was deliberately suppressing the true facts.
But Markovic adhered stubbornly to his original standpoint.
" To definite questions I answer truly with Yes or No, But to
questions which are not put, I do not give any answer. ... I
stake my life that no one can prove me to have spoken falsely."
Intimidation was of no avail ; and the defence made a final
»^8 See Green Book, p, 55.
248
THE EVIDENCE OF PROFESSOR MARKOViC
attempt to prejudice the jury against this imperturbable young
foreigner, by laying before the Court a pamphlet which he had
written at the height of the Bosnian crisis. " The Servian
View of the Bosnian Question " reflects pretty accurately
the attitude of the vast mass of educated Servians towards the
Aehrenthal policy. It contains the usual exaggerations as to
Austrian rule in Bosnia, but also a summary of the genuine
grievances of those provinces. Above all, it deals with the
effects of the annexation upon Servia's economic position and
concludes with an expression of the opinion — at that time en-
dorsed by the entire Servian Press — that a recognition of the
annexation would be a national catastrophe, to which Servia
could never submit, even at the risk of war with Austria-
Hungary.
It was now the turn of the jurymen ; and their questions,
while obviously inspired by an honest desire to be fair to both
parties, strikingly illustrate the provincial outlook of the
average Viennese tradesman. The most characteristic ques-
tion ran as follows : — " As you do not know the plaintiffs in
this trial, as moreover you are a Servian citizen and a foreigner
here, I really can't make out properly what led you to the
journey hither which costs so much money and time,^^' in order
to give evidence in a private libel action. In my opinion the
minutes laid before us by Dr. Friedjung are in no way insulting
to you as a Servian citizen {sic !), indeed I think you have in this
way done some service to your country. I can't then make
out why you have come." The answer of Professor Markovic,
that he had come firstly to clear his own person from the
allegations made against him, and secondly to defend his own
country, was so obvious that a distinct effort is required in
order to grasp the mentality of the questioner. As Dr. Harp-
ner said, " If I were to hear some one was charged with treason-
able relations with Austria by an Italian who alleged that I
had plotted treason with him, and if I knew it to be untrue,
then I too would go off at my own expense and say that it
is a lie." In other countries such a statement would have
been regarded as a ludicrously superfluous commonplace ;
but in view of the jury's attitude it became one of sheer
necessity.
Markovic might well have added that non-appearance would
387 'j'l^ig shows how Httle the Viennese tradesman travels ; for it
is not farther from Belgrad to Vienna than from Inverness to London.
249
THE FRIEDJUNG TRIAL
have been the best proof of guilt. ^^^ That the defence were
fully conscious of this, and for that very reason made a desper-
ate effort to frighten the Servians into remaining away, be-
came apparent from Dr. Benedikt's concluding questions.
Why, he argued, had Markovic not put in an appearance at
the High Treason trial in Agram, in which the relations of
the accused to the Slovenski Jug played so prominent a part,
and in which Nastic brought such grave charges against the
club. But here Dr. Benedikt's attack failed ; for it was pointed
out that Nastic's statements referred to incidents previous
to Markovic's election as president : that Markovic's name
was not implicated until Friedjung's Green Book appeared :
that the Agram court not merely refrained from citing wit-
nesses from Servia, but also expressly declined to examine
even those who might appear voluntarily : and that, though
his name was among those proposed as witnesses by the defence
in Agram, he was at that time at a German watering place,
and did not know that his testimony had been invoked.^^^
The attitude of Dr. Fried] ung and his counsel towards
Professor Markovic was unworthy of so distinguished an his-
torian, and The Times was well within the mark in describing
his criticism as " pettifogging," and in declaring that the
adoption of these tactics by a man hitherto regarded as "of
considerable mental elevation," produced a painful impression
upon the public in court.^^''
Vni. The Evidence of Professor Masaryk.
The first witness at the next day's proceedings was Professor
Thomas Masaryk, the well-known Bohemian savant and
politician. The important part which he had already played,
and was still to play, in the cause of Croatian liberties, entitles
^^^ And who is so naive as to suppose that this would not have been
the line adopted by the defence if the Servians had really remained
away ?
3^8 This is by no means as improbable as it might seem at first sight.
Under the Rauch regime, and especially during the whole course of the
Agram trial, communication between Agram and Belgrad had its dan-
gers. It was not till June, 1909, that the representatives of the accused
dared to go to Belgrad with a view of collecting urgently necessary in-
formation for the defence ; and on their way home the private papers
of one of their number. Dr. Budisavljevic, were arbitrarily seized by
Ranch's officials in Semlin, and handed over to the Public Prosecutor
for use in the trial.
3»o Times, December 16, 1909.
250
THE EVIDENCE OF PROFESSOR MASARYK
the reader to expect some estimate of the man and his career.
By birth a Moravian Slovak from the Httle frontier town of
Goding (Hodonin),^^^ he had been intended for the career of a
village schoolmaster, but found his way to Vienna, and devoted
himself there and in Leipzig to philosophical studies. In
1879 he won his spurs with a remarkable essay on " Suicide as a
Social Phenomenon," and in 1882 he was appointed professor
at the new Czech University in Prague. A year later he
founded a literary review of his own, and it was here that he
waged pitiless warfare against one of the chief literary trea-
sui:es of his nation, the famous Koniginhof MS. In spite of
fierce attacks upon his scholarship and patriotism, Masaryk
never faltered until he had established beyond all question
that the manuscript was from beginning to end an impudent
forgery. " It was not merely a matter of the genuine or false
character of the MS.," he declared, " but of vindicating the
liberty of every man to give expression at all times and places
to his scientific convictions." He had proved the old Hussite
spirit to be still alive ; and when in 1891 he turned to politics,
he showed the same uncompromising tendencies, though
careful to limit his programme to the realm of possibilities.
He might well have taken for his motto, " The truth shall
make you free!" In 1900, dissatisfied with the barrenness
of Czech politics, he formed a party of his own, the so-called
Progressives, or Czech Realists. In the new Parliament of
Universal Suffrage, he offered a crowning proof of his originality
and courage, by expounding the grounds of his religious belief
before a House of ultramontanes and agnostics. Freedom
of conscience is to him much more than a mere phrase, and
in its defence he has incurred much obloquy. ^^^
Some idea of the wide field which his studies cover, may
be obtained by looking up his name in a library catalogue.
In addition to endless smaller essays, we find monographs on
John Hus and Havlicek, the O'Connell of Bohemia, on Hume,
Pascal and Buckle, a treatise on Logic, essays on Suicide and
Hypnotism, The Philosophical Basis of Marxism, Palacky's
Idea of the Bohemian People, The Russian Revolution. Too
''^ Born March 7, 1850. See an interesting article by J. Vancura,
" Unsere Gotzenzertriimmerer " (Our Idolhvea.'kexs), in Cechische Revue,
April, 1910, pp. 201-223.
''2 Notably when he fought for a revision of the Polna Ritual Murder
Trial (1899), and when he defended Professor Wahrmund's aggressive
anti-clerical pamphlet, Katholische Weltanschauung (igo8).
251
THE FRIEDJUNG TRIAL
liberal to be a Pan-Slav in the Russian sense, he believes in
Austria's mission and in a great future for the Slavs under
Habsburg rule, and he regards Prague, not St. Petersburg,
as the focussing point of Slavonic culture.
Impatient of forms and phrases, cold and unexpansive in
manner, he goes to essentials, and when he holds the kernel,
despises the outer shell. Almost Spartan in his private life,
an enemy of alcohol and tobacco, he is no lover of effect or
ceremony, and relies upon reason rather than sentiment. In-
deed, he is free, almost to brusqueness, from the exaggerated
sentimentalism of the Slav. In any country such a man could
not fail to exercise a deep influence upon his students : in
Bohemia, it is not too much to say that he has become one
of the chief moral forces of the country. Moreover Prague,
as a brilliant centre of national culture, and as the most untram-
melled of all the Slavonic universities, attracts students from
every Slav country : and all those who showed sympathy for
liberal and progressive principles, fell under the thrall of
Masaryk. Thus we are faced by the remarkable fact that
not merely in Bohemia itself, but among the Slovenes and the
Slovaks, in Croatia, Dalmatia, Bosnia, Servia, Bulgaria, even
to some extent in Russia and Poland, the younger politicians,
under the age of forty, have been largely recruited from among
his stvdents. The idealism of the younger generation of
Southern Slavs, the incentive to shake off the corrupt past,
were the direct fruit of his teaching. In Croatia especially,
the Progressive Party was founded by his pupils. Dr. Lorkovic
and Professor Surmin, on the lines of his own party. Mr.
Supilo, the peasant Cato, was a man after his own heart. The
Serb Independent leaders, Messrs. Pribicevic, Budisavljevic
and Popovic, were equally under his influence. In Belgrad
more than one of the men whose names occurred in Dr. Fried-
jung's " documents," had held a high place among his pupils
and in his own estimation. " For Supilo, Pribicevic and
Lukinic," he had declared in the Austrian Parliament, " I
would lay both my hands in the fire." ^93 How was it possible
that the very cream of those who had been through his hands,
should be accused of actions which ran counter to his whole
teaching ? Inevitably he was led to investigate the charges :
for the slur upon the pupils reflected upon the master too.
And with each step in the inquiry, the conviction ripened in
^•^ See Masaryk, op, cit. p. loi.
252
THE EVIDENCE OF PROFESSOR MASARYK
him that their very excellence had exposed them to a shameful
plot, which aimed at robbing Croatia of her ablest sons. Once
more he was involved in a momentous dispute as to the authen-
ticity of documents, and in challenging Dr. Friedjung's thesis,
he had one obvious point in his favour. Professor Masaryk was
a recognized authority on Slavonic languages : Dr. Fried jung
could not read a word of Servian or any other Slav language.
In other words, the one was qualified to criticise the " docu-
ments " : the other was not.^^^
Professor Masaryk gave a long and conscientious account
of his visits to Belgrad, and the methods which he employed
to investigate the allegations brought forward by the Public
Prosecutor in Agram, and by Dr. Friedjung's article. In some
respects, he argued, he could say more than Markovic. On
his second visit to Belgrad in July, 1909, he had spoken with
Markovic, the main object of his inquiry being to discover
whether the Slovenski Jug was the central committee of a
secret society, or had intimate relations with the Servian
Government. He satisfied himself that this was not the case,
and was confirmed in this view by the discovery that Slovenski
Jug had been in serious financial difficulties and could scarcely
have existed but for the Town Council's subsidy. The judge
here not unfairly suggested that if a secret society had existed,
it was hardly likely that Professor Masaryk, as a foreigner and
an Austrian, would have been let into its secrets ; and the
fact that on his second visit to Belgrad, several Servian news-
papers denounced him as an Austrian spy, seemed to confirm
the Judge's scepticism. But Professor Masaryk maintained
confidently that he, who had so many intimate friends and
former pupils in Servia, could not have failed to detect the
existence of revolutionary designs among them. Some of
them he knew so well, that they would have told him every-
''* In writing thus of Professor Masaryk, I feel that, like Balaam, I
came to curse and stayed to bless. The attitude of his more prominent
followers, who have degraded his liberal views into mere anti-clerical-
ism, had prejudiced me against him also ; and even at the time of the
Agram Trial, I could not approve of his tactics or his speech in Parlia-
ment. But his attitude at the Friedjung Trial, and still more his coura-
geous exposure of Count Aehrenthal and his methods {see Chapter
XII) completely converted me. He had nothing to gain and has
actually gained nothing but insult and abuse. No one can withhold his
admiration from his unselfish and loyal defence of his old pupils — or at
least none save those who think that the sole lesson to be learnt from a
scandal is the best method of avoiding detection on the next occasion.
253
THE FRIEDJUNG TRIAL
thing, everything ; nor would he hesitate for a moment to
brand Milovanovic or Jovanovic as Hars, if he found their
assertions to be untrue. Asked whether he believed that a
Foreign Minister would admit the existence of such a con-
spiracy, he replied, " A small-minded politician would not
admit it ; a Bismarck would." Nor was it only to him that
Milovanovic had expressly denied the charges. He had dis-
cussed the matter publicly in the Skupshtina, where he had
many enemies. And when during strained relations with
Austria a Servian Minister publicly speaks of these things in
the Skupshtina, in discussing a universal question — for the
Servian question is a universal question in which Austria,
Russia, Britain, Italy and Germany are interested — and
Count Aehrenthal does not disavow him in the official press,
then I must assume that Milovanovic is speaking the truth."
Professor Masaryk, in passing to a criticism of Dr. Fried-
jung's " documents," pointed out that he had devoted four
years to the study of documents during the famous literary
feud of the Koniginhof MS.; and on the present occasion he
had employed similar methods. To begin with, the phrase-
ology of the documents was incredible. Not even a school-
boy would write as Pasic, Servia's foremost Realpolitiker , is
represented as writing in the secret instructions to Tomic.
And how could a man like Milovanovic, in a confidential
document dealing with high politics, write of " Golden Prague "
or of "the Czech Kingdom"?
In reply to Dr. Friedjung, he admitted that on his first
visit to Belgrad he only remained two nights, having previously
made appointments by letter with those whom he wanted to
see. His chief reason for going was that no one in Agram dared
to go, ^^^ and even he as a politician was laying himself open to
suspicion, and therefore stopped as short a time as possible. He
had not spoken with Markovic on that occasion, because the
object of his enquiries related to a period previous to the latter 's
connexion with the club. His interest was concentrated on
Milan Pribicevic, as the author of the revolutionary statute, and
Ljuba Jovanovic, as former president of Slovenski Jug. At the
Agram trial the statute played the principal part, while the
Markovic " minutes " had not yet been produced ; and it
was therefore only natural that he should concern himself
with the former and not the latter. An amusing incident
"* Owing to the attitude of Rauch's absolutist government.
254
THE EVIDENCE OF FATHER ZAGORAC
occurred when Dr. Friedjung asked who had told him that
the statute had reached Austria from Montenegro. Professor
Masaryk repHed that he had learnt this fact from several
sources which he was not at liberty to mention, and also from
no other than George Nastic, who for once in a way appeared
to have spoken the truth. Here Dr. Friedjung threw doubt
upon Nastic's veracity, though he had not scrupled to cite him
in his article in the Neue Freie Presse — see p. 204. When
Masaryk rejoined that this fact was also published in the
Wiener Allgemeine Zeitung, one of Count Aehrenthal's organs,
Friedjung poured contempt upon the scientific methods of
that newspaper. " Then," said Masaryk, " Count Aehrenthal
should have published a dementi, if the statement was
inaccurate." ^se
Strangely enough, this and the fact that the Servian Pre-
mier's telegram was published without contradiction in the
Fremdenblatt, the chief official organ of the Ballplatz, seem
to have impressed the Court and the jury far more than any-
thing that Professor Masaryk could say. They were openly
sceptical " when he assured them that the word of a Foreign
Minister had some claim to consideration, and that a large-
minded politician would give an honest answer to an honest
question from an intimate friend, or at least would not wilfully
mislead him." ^^^
Professor Masaryk's evidence was not impressive : like
himself, it was not calculated for effect, and indeed, in the
hostile court, created an atmosphere of frigid scepticism. The
extreme conviction with which he spoke, the evidences of
careful and minute investigation which he was able to adduce,
were wasted upon a judge and jury with whom it seemed to
be an axiom that all Serbs are naturally liars and conspirators.
IX. The Evidence of Father Zagorac.
The next witness presented a complete contrast to Professor
Masaryk. Father Stephen Zagorac has been for the last eight
years a member of the Croatian Diet. As one of the chief
representatives of Croatia at the Resolution of Fiume, he held
an influential position in the Croato-Serb Coalition, and was
^'8 It is highly significant that the Neue Freie Presse, in its ostensibly
verbatim reports of the trial, omits all reference to this little incident —
doubtless as a result of a hint from the proper quarter. I am relying
here upon my own notes taken in court.
"' Times, December 17, 1909.
THE FRIEDJUNG TRIAL
one of its most active members in Budapest. Despite his
natural leanings to the Clericals of Vienna, he showed extreme
reluctance to abandon the cause of Magyar-Croat friendship,
and in the summer of 1908 he exposed himself to much criti-
cism by attempting to negotiate singlehanded with Budapest.
As a result of this incident and of friction with other Coalition
leaders, Father Zagorac seceded in the autumn of the same
year, and threw in his lot with the small group of Dr. Mile
Starcevic. Renouncing all hope of an entente with Hungary,
he pinned his whole faith upon Austria, the Heir- Apparent,
and the Christian Socialist Party, with members of which
he was on friendly terms. Thus it was Dr. Funder, the Chris-
tian Socialist editor, who cited him as a witness, to report on
his former relations with the Croato-Serb Coalition.
Father Zagorac at once admitted that he had heard talk of
relations between the Coalition and the Servian Government,
but all his information came from Vienna. " Over two years ago
certain exalted persons in Vienna are said to have repeatedly
affirmed that the Coalition contains antimonarchical and
antidynastic elements." He at once discussed the matter
with Supilo and other leaders, and regarded their replies as
entirely satisfactory. Questioned as to his informant, Father
Zagorac declined to give his name, but added, " None the
less I learnt that the Archduke Francis Ferdinand stated
before various political personages, that the Coalition was
connectted with treasonable intrigues." Mr. Laginja ^^^ had
repeated to him a similar remark of the Austrian Premier,
Baron Beck ; and documents were believed to exist, proving
Supilo to be an enemy of the d3masty. From another abso-
lutely authentic source he had heard that Count Aehrenthal
had also spoken of anti-monarchical elements in the Coalition.
About the same time he himself had an interview with Dr.
Gessmann — the well-known Christian Socialist leader in
Austria — and found it necessary to defend the Coalition from
the charge of being unpatriotic and hostile to the Monarchy.
In reply to Dr. Kienbock, he stated that not long before he
seceded from the Coalition, he had applied for an audience
with the Heir-Apparent, but it was refused without reason
stated, and he was merely informed " At present it is impos-
sible." Soon afterwards, however, he met a politician who
had actually been received in audience, and it was then that
he learnt of the Archduke's remark.
«»* Member of the Reichsrath for a Croat district in Istria.
256
THE EVIDENCE OF FATHER ZAGORAC
Father Zagorac then stated the reasons which had prompted
him to secede from the Coalition. First, he could no longer
submit to the leadership of Supilo. Second, he was dissatis-
fied with the Coalition's attitude in the Bosnian question.
Third, he was no longer willing to accept the Ausgleich with
Hungary as the basis of Croatia's policy. And, finally, what
he had heard in Vienna had not been without its effect upon
him, and he felt that Croatia must in the future at all costs
avoid the enmity of Austria. Supilo he described as an
intolerably autocratic leader — from this view the plaintiffs
at once dissented ; any one who differed from him was at
once either a fool or an agent of Austria or Hungary. Under
his guidance the Coalition had made endless tactical blunders,
chiefly owing to the rapidity with which he veered round
from Serbophobe to Serbophil, from Magyarophobe to Kossuth-
ist, from an opponent of Austria to an admirer of the " Great
Austrian " idea. But though all this made it impossible
for him to continue to work with Supilo, he emphatically
asserted that he had never doubted Supilo's personal honour,
and to-day he was still convinced that Supilo had never ac-
cepted a kreuzer from any one. Though up till December,
rgoS, a member of the executive committee of the Coalition,
he had never heard a syllable as to relations with Servia on
the part of any of its members. While admitting that he
had at the time expressed open disapproval of Supilo's occa-
sional visits to Italy and Servia, and had even described the
latter as a " pilgrimage," he vigorously denied that there had
ever been any talk of treason inside the Coalition. There
have been traitors in the Monarchy, but they are to be sought
not in the ranks of the Coalition, but in Budapest and in the
Serb-Radical party. He had once asked the deputy Budisav-
Ijevic his opinion of the Slovenski Jug, and had received the
answer, " That is tomfoolery "{Das sind Dummheiten). " And
I replied," added Father Zagorac, with surprising vigour,
" that we too could do with a Slovenski Jug against the
Magyars," A chance conversation of his with the deputy
Dr. Magdic had been falsely reported as conveying a slur
upon the patriotism of the Coalition, and he now corrected it
amid loud laughter from all parts of the court. He himself
had said that a time might come when bombs would be re-
quired ; for when a man is attacked by a robber with the
words " Your money or your life " — and this was the attitude
of the Magyars towards Croatia — weapons are the only resort,
s.s.Q. 257 s
THE FRIED] UNG TRIAL ;'
and in that case it matters very little where the bombs come
from. " Perhaps," replied Magdic, " and I'll be the first to
blow up a bridge." " And I the second," added this represen-
tative of the Church militant. As he had taken care to warn
the Court, the whole affair smacked strongly of an inn parlour
(ein Wirtshausgesprdch). The whole campaign against the
Coalition, he added, was in his opinion, even after reading
the " documents," a mere political intrigue, whose object
was the revival of the old " Magyarone " regime in Croatia.
" And what impression did these documents make upon you ? "
asked counsel for the prosecution. " I have read carefully
every day the reports in the Reichspost," replied Father
Zagorac, " and one day I said to my curates, ' Gentlemen, I
have read the documents of which Dr. Funder told me, but
I'm afraid he will be dreadfully let in ' [Er wird sich schrecklich
blamiren)."
The evidence of Father Zagorac created a profound sensa-
tion. The source of the defendants' information had from the
first been sufficiently obvious ; but the fact that forged docu-
ments had played a decisive part in winning the consent of
the d3masty and of the A.ustrian Government to the Aehrenthal
policy, had hitherto been kept discreetly in the background.
Father Zagorac's extremely outspoken language tore away
the veil for the first time, and the scene which it revealed was
far from edifying. Dr. Friedjung rightly felt that such revela-
tions could not be passed over in silence, and standing up in
court he made the following statement : —
" Hitherto I have said not a word as to whether His Imperial
and Royal Highness, Archduke Francis Ferdinand, or Count
Aehrenthal, or the Premier Baron Beck have seen these docu-
ments. But as the witness stated here that he knew that
these documents have been for years in the possession of,
and known to, these highly-placed personages, I am obliged
and entitled to declare that these documents were certainly
brought to the knowledge of all the authoritative quarters
[leitende Stellen) which had to conduct the government of
the Monarchy. I content myself with pointing out that I
was not naive in producing the documents, for otherwise I
should have shared this naivete with all the authoritative
quarters that have been mentioned."
This statement effectively demolished the assurances of
Count Aehrenthal's official press, that the Friedjung Trial was
in no sense a political affair and that its issue was of no concern
258
DR. POLIT AND THE SERVIAN WITNESSES
to the Foreign Minister. Its eminently political character
was now apparent to all the world. The Fried] ung Trial was
already threatening to compromise the diplomatic methods
of the Monarchy, and to become a grave European scandal.
A new witness was now produced in the person of Father
Zajnko, who gave a confused account of a conversation which
he had had with Zagorac as recently as the autumn of 1909.
The latter had confided to him the reasons for which his
audience had been refused, and also the account which Supilo
had given of his visits to Belgrad ; "I believed him," said
Zagorac, " but afterwards, when I heard Spalajkovic speak,
I was convinced that the matter was quite different." Zagorac
had further repeated the phrase of Supilo, that he had visited
Belgrad " only in the interests of the Coalition."
But Father Zagorac yielded not an inch, and boldly con-
fronting the witness, he denied having ever even mentioned
to him the name of Spalajkovic, or having ever used the
phrase " in the interests of the Coalition." " Either you
have made a mistake," he cried with his accustomed verve,
" Either you have made a mistake, or you are lying." And
here the matter rested, though not before it had transpired
that Supilo could not possibly have made the remark attri-
buted to him by Zajnko, since his visit to Belgrad had taken
place in the first days of April, 1905, at a time when the
Coalition had not yet come into being.
X. Dr. Polit and the Servian Witnesses.
The next witness was Dr. Michael Polit-Desancic, a man
of seventy-seven, who had for many years been the recognized
leader of the Serbs in Southern Hungary. Originally a
member of the Croatian Diet in the sixties, he had been settled
for forty years in Neusatz (Ujvidek), the home of the Serb
Academy (Srpska Matica). During the Bosnian insurrection
of 1876-77, he had as a young advocate gallantly defended
Svetozar Miletic, when arraigned by the Magyar Government
for his Serbophil tendencies. When in 1906 he re-entered
the Hungarian Parliament, after an absence of over twenty
years, he was able to remind the House of his farewell phrase
a generation before, " W^e meet again at Philippi." As an
old-world Liberal, he was bitterly opposed to Dr. Pasic, and the
Radical party, which had dominated ^Servia since King Alex "
ander's murder ; and hence his association with the Pasic Govern
259
THE FRIED JUNG TRIAL ' ^
inent, as the minutes of the Slovenski Jug alleged, had
considerably mystified even Dr. Fried] ung himself.
In the course of his evidence, Dr. Polit stated that as a young
man he had written regularly on Balkan affairs in the Augs-
burger Allgemeine Zeitung, and his articles had actually been
described as inspired by Bismarck's press bureau ! But for the
past twenty years he had not written a single article in the
foreign press ; and as for conducting a foreign press propa-
ganda in favour of Pasic, it was only necessary to point out
that both his party and his newspaper had been for twenty
years at enmity with the Radicals both in Servia and in the
Banat, that he had repeatedly written articles attacking Pasic
and demanding the trial of the regicides. Nor could any one
acquainted with his relations to the Magyars fail to realize the
sheer absurdity of the charge that he had received money on
behalf of the Hungarian press. Here Dr. Fried] ung freel}-
admitted that he knew Dr. Polit's high reputation and had
consequently been puzzled by the passage referring to him in
Spalajkovic's secret report. 399 Indeed, he had at first been dis-
posed to omit the passage, and had only reluctantly decided
to print it in full. As Dr. Harpner afterwards (December i8),
pointed out with crushing irony, it would be far better if they
had the complete documents before them ; so many more
absurdities might then become apparent. He admitted Dr.
Fried] ung's bona fides but claimed that from the point of view
of an effective control, these omissions were distinctly unfor-
tunate. A barren dispute followed between the witness and
Dr. Fried] ung on the academic question whether it was per-
missible for a newspaper to accept subventions from abroad.
Both parties played with the words " criminal " and " natural,"
until their hearers were genuinely bewildered ; the witness
apparently held that to accept a subsidy where there was clearly
no treason involved, was not penal, while the defendant re-
garded all subsidies from abroad as un]ustifiable, and un-
patriotic. For obvious reasons the discussion must have been
followed with some anxiety by numerous representatives of the
Viennese and Budapest press.
Mr. Peter Jelovac, the merchant in whose house at Semlin —
according to the Spala]kovic report — the Servian money was
paid over to the deputy Pribicevic, next categorically denied
the allegation and gave details as to the four occasions on which
he had met Pribicevic.
39» See Appendix XIV.
260
DR. POLIT AND THE SERVIAN WITNESSES
After Mr. Toncic, the Vice-Governor of Dalmatia, had been
examined regarding Mr. Supilo's activity in Ragusa {see p. 292)
fresh witnesses from Servia were allowed to run the gauntlet
of a hostile court.
Mr. Davidovic, a former Servian Minister of Education,
and Vice-President of the Skupshtina, whose name occurs
repeatedly as member and even vice-president of the Slovenski
Jug, declared that he had never belonged to the club and denied
having ever attended any of the meetings reported in the alleged
" minutes." He described the Slovenski Jug as a students'
society, which pursued objects of general culture and also
sought connexions with similar organizations abroad, Though
not intimate with Markovic, he belonged to the same party,
and was therefore in a position to state that Markovic took
no active part in politics, except in so far as he voted at elec-
tions. When the Judge pointed out that the relations alleged
to have subsisted between the witness and Austrian politicians
constituted a penal offence, Davidovic replied that he was fully
aware of this and that it was hardly likely that he would have
appeared before the Court if he had felt himself to be guilty.
After the Judge had put a number of minor questions. Dr.
Benedikt, assuming his most offensive manner, stated that in
view of such wholesale denials he had nothing to ask the wit-
ness, and Dr. Fried] ung tersely added that a cross-examination
was superfluous.
Mr. Davidovic was replaced by Mr. Mile Pavlovic, a professor
in one of the Belgrad gymnasia. A little man with pointed beard
and bushy moustache, speaking fluent but highly original
German, and accompanying his quaint phrases with excitable
gestures, he introduced, it must be confessed, an irresistibly
comic element into the trial. But unhappily a sense of humour
is not Dr. Friedjung's strong point : his counsel was thoroughl}^
nettled by the unfavourable turn which the trial had taken ;
and even the Judge, who as the author of light dramas from the
life of the people ought to have known better, took the good
man more seriously with every fresh sally. Hence the Servians
were received with an icy condescension and suspicion which
was far more provocative than the vigorous but not unnatural
onslaught of the defence upon Professor Markovid.*""
*"*> Personally I had from the very first had strong reason to doubt the
accuracy of Dr. Fried jung's information ; otherwise I should naturally
not have written in defence of the Croato-Servian Coalition in my pam-
phlet Absolutismus in Kroatieri — published in Vienna in September,
261
THE FRIEDJUNG TRIAL
The very first words of Mr. Pavlovic convulsed his audience ;
to the Judge's formal question whether he was married, he
replied, " Unfortunately a bachelor." " Do you belong to a
party ? " asked the Judge a little later. " I might say,"
answered the good man, " I am myself a party. I was once
editor of a newspaper, but left it eight years ago and am now,
so to speak, a widow at large ! " Solvuntur tabulae risu : but
the defence maintained a portentous dignity ; and when Pav-
lovic had declared that though a member of the Slovenski Jug
he had never belonged to a committee of any kind and had
never signed the minutes, that the club pursued literary and
artistic aims, that neither it nor its president Markovic had
taken an active share in politics, and that he knew nothing of
the existence of bombs on its premises,^"^ Dr. Benedikt roundly
declared that he was not so simple as to ask further questions
about the Slovenski Jug, since he was convinced that this
witness would not tell the truth ! This exhibition of temper
seems to have been due to Pavlovic's awkward request to be
allowed to see the original of the " minutes " bearing his signa-
ture, and to the sarcasm with which he received the reply that
the originals were not before the Court.
Dr. Friedjung contented himself with a single question : Do
you often travel in Austria-Hungary ? Hereupon this chatty
" conspirator " plunged into a highly characteristic account
of his last visit to Bosnia in the summer of 1908. He had been
commissioned by the Minister of Education to proceed to
Ragusa and arrange for the erection of a monument over the
grave of Milan Kristic, a well-known Belgrad dramatist who
had died during a visit to Ragusa. On the way he decided to
stop in Sarajevo, and here he at once called upon Mr. Horman,
one of the highest officials of the Bosnian Government, and
1909. But none the less I entered court full of prejudice and hostility
towards the witnesses from Servia, and inclined to suspect the Slovenski
Jug of evil practices, even while convinced that it had no accomplices
in Croatia. Despite this prejudice (which — as the result of information
received in Vienna — was especially strong against Dr. Spalajko vie) my
indignation was roused by the attitude of the Court towards the Ser-
vian witnesses ; and it passes my understanding how any sane observer
of the proceedings could regard persons like Pavlovic, Odavic and Mark-
ovic — three radically different characters — as dangerous plotters of
murder and revolution.
*"i He admitted having written two articles in Slovenski Jug, one an
attack upon Montenegro, the other on a literary subject. He also
stated that certain newspapers had affected to detect revolutionary aims
in the fact that the society organized a Southern Slav art exhibition !
262
I
THE EVIDENCE OF DR. SPALAJKOVIC
explained the object of his journey. He was however neither
allowed to remain nor to proceed upon his journey ; gendarmes
and detectives promptly fetched him from his hotel and
escorted him back across the Bosnian frontier. His explana-
tion of the expulsion was that being an unmarried man he
kept a spare room in his house in Belgrad specially for poor
students and workmen who came from Bosnia, and that this had
made his name known in Bosnia and specially obnoxious to the
police authorities. Ashe remarked — in a phrase of more than
questionable taste, but unhappily not wholly devoid of truth —
" the nose of the Bosnian police is no mere ordinary nose." But
however deserving of criticism and reform the Bosnian police-
state may be, Mr. Pavlovic's choice of time and place was
singularly inopportune. At the same time Dr. Friedjung was
merely la5dng himself open to criticism when he persisted in
regarding such a man as Pavlovic as one of the ringleaders of a
Pan-Serb conspiracy ; for no one who listened to his evidence
could fail to realize that he would within a fortnight have
proved fatal to the existence of any secret society.
The next witness was Mr. Rista Odavic, formerly professor
in a gymnasium, but now playwright and regisseur of the Royal
Theatre in Belgrad. His evidence contained few points of
interest. While admitting that he had been and still was a
member of the Slovenski Jug, he denied all other allegations
as explicitly as the other witnesses. He helped to smooth the
somewhat ruffled dignity of the Court by his mild and concilia-
tory replies, and concluded by expressing the pious hope that
if by his evidence he had contributed to expose the forgeries.
Dr. Friedjung, for whom as a historian he had the highest
respect, would not fail to be grateful to him.
Vni. The Evidence of Dr. Spalajkovi(5.
Saturday's sitting brought the crowning sensation of this
eventful trial, and ruthlessly demolished the last outworks
behind v/hich the defence had taken refuge. The notorious Dr.
Spalajkovic, against whom Dr. Friedjung had fulminated in
his opening piaidoyer, at length confronted his traducer. But
instead of the bespectacled bureaucrat of sinister and intriguing
aspect whom we had been led to expect, there appeared a tall,
elegant figure, of military carriage, whose courteous and digni-
fied demeanour presented a striking contrast to the studied
impertinence with which he was received. Under extraordin-
263
THE FRIEDJUNG TRIAL
ary provocation, he invariably kept his temper, and showed
himself to be a worthy representative of Servian diplomacy.
Dr. Spalajkovic began his evidence with a slightly long-
winded declaration of the motives which had induced him to
appear before the Court. In the first place he held it to be a
duty of which neither his diplomatic position nor the fact that
he was a foreigner could absolve him ; and secondly, he was
prompted by the desire to promote good relations between Servia
and Austria-Hungary, which were impeded by these "menda-
cious documents." He could not help regretting that the pro-
posal which he had made when Dr. Friedjung's article appeared
— that the whole question should be submitted to the arbitra-
tion of a court of savants — ^had not found acceptance with his
opponents. As it was, he appeared to-day, full of confidence
in the impartiality of the Viennese jury and in the firm con-
viction that these lying documents were " a colossal mystifi-
cation," intended to throw suspicion upon Servia, the Servian
Government, the Slovenski Jug, himself and the Croato-Serb
Coalition. This view was also shared by his chief, Dr. Milo-
vanovic, with whose permission he now proposed to lay his
proofs before the Court. " Gentlemen," he continued, "there
are clever forgeries and stupid forgeries. The forgeries contained
in this pamphlet (Dr. Friedjung's Green Book) do not belong to
the former category. That one can see at first glance." He
then offered to submit to a technical cross-examination on
the handwriting of his alleged secret report, and suggested a
comparison of his handwriting with either the original or its
photograph. When the Judge explained that the Court had
nothing at its disposal save a mere printed copy of the Servian
text. Dr. Spalajkovic expressed his readiness to prove the for-
gery even on this inadequate basis. The Judge sought to
smooth over the absence of originals by the remark that the
document might perhaps have been abstracted from the Servian
Foreign Office for a brief space of time and then returned
before any one had noticed its absence. But this suggestion
the witness politely brushed aside by affirming that if such a
document, or even anything resembling it, had ever existed, he
would scarcely have found courage to appear before the Court.
Dr. Spalajkovic, with the Judge's permission, then entered
upon a detailed criticism of the forged report, (i) Confining
himself at first to matters of external form, he contrasted the
extreme prolixity of the report with the statement contained
in Document XV (Slovenski Jug Minutes of November i6,
264
THE EVIDENCE OF DR. SPALAJKOViC
1908), that he (Spalajkovic) would " report briefly to the Minis-
ter." The document was headed, " Ministry of Foreign Affairs,
political department, Belgrad, June 4, 1907. Confidential No.
3,027 " ; but on referring to the official records it appeared
that the total number of numbered documents in that depart-
ment during 1907 amounted to 1991, the numbers on June i
and 30 respectively being 832 and 1,040, (2) In the same way,
Dr. Funder's chief document — the instructions of Dr. Milovan-
ovic to the Servian Minister in Vienna — ^bears the number
5.703, whereas in reality the first document drawn up on that
date by the department in question is numbered 367, and even
as late as December i, 1909, the total only amounted to 2,748.
(3) The Servian text contains a word which he could never
possibly have employed either in an official or a private letter,
and which was not in use in Servia.^"^ As a proof that the style
of the text bore no resemblance to his, he ventured to lay before
the Court a treatise of his which had appeared in 1906 in the
Archiv filr Rechts- und Socialwissenschaft.
(4) The report is signed by " Miroslav Spalajkovic," whereas
he invariably signed all official documents with " Dr. M. Spalaj-
kovic " and never with his full Christian name.
(5) It is also signed by Bozovic as cashier, whereas in realit}^
no cashier in the Servian Foreign Office had ever signed a poli-
tical report or had the slightest connexion with the political
department.
Passing to the contents of the report, Dr. Spalajkovic next
pointed out that he had never in his life visited Semlin in com-
pany with the cashier Bozovic and had never met Mr. Svetozar
Pribicevic. The absurdity and Utopian folly of the report were
well illustrated by two striking instances : (i) The report con-
tains the following passage : " Besides the Government will
have control over a new extended Budget, and what is the main
thing, over larger contributions from the new State Loan,
regarding which the preliminary negotiations are already
ended, and which the Skupshtina will vote in the autumn."
" I would ask you, gentlemen," added Dr. Spalajkovic, " to
note specially that the document is dated June 4, 1907, and
speaks of a loan which Parliament will vote in the autumn.
But, gentlemen, this whole matter of the loan was already
*°2 Urucin — " handed in " — a literal translation of the German phrase
" eingehandigt." This Germanism, though unknown in Servia, is
quite usual in Croatia, of which the forger is probably a native.
265
THE FRIEDJUNG TRIAL
settled, both with regard to the prehminary negotiations and
also with regard to the Skupshtina — a year previously ! " The
negotiations had been finally completed in Geneva in 1906 by
Dr: Pacu and Dr. Spalajkovic himself, and soon afterwards the
Servian Parliament had voted the loan, which amounted to
90,000,000 francs, not 93,000,000, as Dr. Friedjung had
erroneously stated.
When the loud applause which greeted this conclusive proof of
the forger's ignorance had been sternly repressed by the Judge,
Dr. Spalajkovic turned to the concluding passage of the Report,
which contains the request that the Minister should sanction
the disbursement of 12,000 dinars, " to debit of No. 190 of
Item xxxviiiB. of the fifth Chapter of the Budget." Never,
he assured the Court, had any document of the Servian Foreign
Office employed such a formula in its references to the Budget.
After pointing to the formal phrases and technicalities which
would be used under such circumstances, he produced a copy
of the Servian Budget for 1906, an examination of which would
confirm his statements.
In case, however, doubts should still be entertained as to the
authenticity of his facts, he had the following statement to
make : " Should it be necessary, the Servian Government will
resort to a final measure, in order to repel and rebut such charges
as are contained in this document. It will, namely, if necessary,
approach all the Great Powers with the request that the repre-
sentatives of the Great Powers at Belgrad may convince them-
selves of the accuracy of all these statements and .proofs which
have been laid before the Court." And then turning to the
alleged Instructions of Dr. Milovanovic to the Servian Minister
in Vienna, he characterized the document as " not only an
idiotic and clumsy forgery, but also a feeble attempt to sully
the honour of the Minister. His personality, his ability, his
Realismus, and his services in the cause of European peace
are so well known to all authoritative quarters that every
one of them before whom this document was placed, would
indignantly throw it aside as I myself do."
" So you have nothing more to say on this point," remarked
the Judge, who perhaps wished to heighten the impression by
a humorous sally. Most people will agree with the plaintiffs
that Dr. Spalajkovic had already said a good deal ! Finally,
he stated that the Servian Foreign Minister was not merely
willing, but anxious, that the Austro-Hungarian Minister in Bel-
grad should test the accuracy of his statements and that in
266
THE EVIDENCE OF DR. SPALAJKOViC
response to a telegram the necessary books of the Foreign Office
would be immediately placed at Count Forgach's disposal.
In reply to Dr. Harpner, the witness declared, both in his own
name and in that of Dr. Milovanovic, that the Servian Govern-
ment had never had any relations with the Coalition, either
through the Slovenski Jug or other channels. Asked by the
Judge whether he had been relieved of his pledge of official
secrecy, he replied that he was authorized to speak freely upon
everything relating to the Coalition and the issue involved in this
trial. Owing to his position in the Foreign Office no inter-
course could have taken place without his knowledge ; but,
" Gentlemen," he declared, " my conscience is clear, and I here
swear that I do not shelter myself behind any form of immunity,
whether legal or conventional ; for me a clear conscience is the
best guarantee."
The Judge stubbornly pressed the witness to explain why
the Servian Government had made no diplomatic representa-
tions on the subject of these charges ; but Spalajkovic, who
showed a marked reluctance to say anything which might offend
Austrian susceptibilities, at last reduced him to silence by
suggesting that it might be well to institute an inquiry, and
both parties could then publish their versions of the reasons
which prevented the matter from being settled by diplomacy.
The haste with which Dr. Wach relinquished the subject, showed
that there was more behind it than the politely cryptic phrase
of the Servian official seemed to suggest.
Further questions of the Judge made a still more painful
impression. The cross-examination of a high diplomatic
official as to the possibility of documents under his care having
been purloined by spies or hirelings employed by the questioner's
own Foreign Minister, was one of the most repulsive incidents
in the whole trial. Nor was it necessary to treat as suspicious
the assertion of Dr. Spalajkovic, that he had other more im-
portant things to do during the Bosnian crisis than to read the
" red number " of the Slovenski Jug newspaper. Sir Edward
Grey might well be excused for not reading the Isis or the
Granta at a moment of acute international danger ; and Sloven-
ski Jug appears only to have differed from those well-known
publications, in that it was more ambitious, less influential,
and far worse edited.
At this stage in the proceedings Dr. Friedjung sought to
bolster up his tottering cause by reading out a declaration of
the Hungarian Premier, Dr. Wekerle, to the effect that he knew
267
THE FRIEDJUNG TRIAL
" not only from the Report of Dr. Spalajkovic but also from
numerous other documents, that illicit relations subsisted
between Belgrad and the leaders of the Pan-Serb movement in
the lands of the Crown of St. Stephen." ^"^ " j have read this,"
continued Dr. Friedjung, " because the gentlemen from Servia
seem to me to assert rather too much. They have the right to
deny everything. But in my opinion they exceed the limits
of their right of denial, when they describe the documents
which were used by the leading authorities — leitende Stellen —
of the Monarchy as the basis of their foreign policy, and by the
leading authorities entrusted with the Monarchy's defence as
the basis of their measures for the defence of our country,
when they say of these that they are stupid and ridiculous
forgeries." Nothing could have shown more clearly the his-
torian's desperate plight than this strange attempt to restrict
his adversaries' right of defence ; at the best Dr. Wekerle's
statement merely proved that the forger had made one more
dupe in the high places of the Monarchy, and at the worst it
might be objected that the man who was responsible for Baron
Ranch's absolutist regime and who for the past two years had
done all in his power to destroy the Croato-Serb Coalition in the
interests of the Magyar hegemony, was the last man in the
Monarchy from whom an impartial statement could be ex-
pected. Dr. Harpner, moreover, was able to cite Dr. Wekerle's
answer to an interpellation in the Hungarian Parliament,
which showed that he had not always professed the opinion
quoted by Dr. Friedjung.
The time had at length come for the " merciless " exposure
with which Dr. Friedjung had threatened this " foreign agita-
tor " ; but the historian's big guns proved as innocuous as
any schoolboy's peashooter. While treating the Servian,
^"3 Those who knew Dr. Fried Jung's private opinion of the Wekeiic
administration and its policy, alike internal and external, could only
regard his appeal to the authority of Dr. Wekerle as an admission of
weakness and also as an indirect sign that the rats of the Foreign Office
were already leaving the sinking ship. Dr. Wekerle's statement is all
the more remarkable, when compared with his answer to an interpella-
tion in the Hungarian Parliament on March 30, 1908, regarding Dr.
Friedjung's charges. On that occasion he said that he had had the
opportunity of examining the document (viz., the Spalajkovic Report),
and that while it might be a sufficient basis for a publicist's charges it did
not, for a minister, constitute documentary proof ! {See Pester Lloyd,
March 30.) These two statements are highly characteristic of Dr.
Wekerle's methods.
268
THE EVIDENCE OF DR. SPALAJKOViC
Secretary of State throughout the examination with a studied
rudeness ^°^ which was far more painful to his own friends than
to his opponents, Dr. Friedjung could adduce no more damn-
ing evidence than a report of the Bosnian police regarding Dr.
Spalajkovic's visit to his father-in-law in Sarajevo, based on
information supplied by one of the numerous spies who fre-
quent the Bosnian capital.^"^ Dr. Spalajkovichad in Septem-
ber, 1907, spent a month's leave with his wife at the house of
her father, Mr. Jeftanovic, and on that occasion had met Mr.
Damjanovic, a leader of the Orthodox Serb Opposition in Bosnia
and Dr. Gavrila, a well-known Serb advocate resident in Buda-
pest, who was expelled from Bosnia after his meeting with
Spalajkovic. Both men were admittedly intimate friends of
the Jeftanovic family and two of the most honoured guests at
the Spalajkovic wedding in 1906. But Dr. Friedjung argued
that their presence in the house was a proof of political intrigue,
and maintained that it was Dr. Gavrila who drew up the dis-
loyal Bosnian appeals to the Great Powers, after they had been
drafted in Dr. Spalajkovic's office in Belgrad. As a last resort,
Dr. Friedjung cited from an article by M. Rene Pinon in the
Revue des Deux Monies, where Dr. Spalajkovic is spoken of as
*"* He did not even take the trouble to stand up while putting his
questions, as he had invariably done in all other cases ; and the Judge
made no attempt to protect the witness from the defendant's sallies.
At a certain point witness begged the Judge not to allow questions
which were quite irrelevant and only wearied him. Dr. Friedjung :
" I shall go on wearying you, Herr Sektionschef. I shall weary you
very, very much. Do you know Dr. Gavrila's position in the poUtical
struggles of the Mohammedan and Serb opposition ? " Witness :
" What do you understand by Serb opposition?" Dr. Friedjung :
" ' What is a lieutenant ? ' asks the simple maiden."
*"* This report — dated September 15, 1909 — contains the following
highly instructive passage : — " A spy announces that Spalajkovic
brought with him a considerable sum of money from the Servian secret
fund for the Serb society ' Pros vj eta ' here, and carried on negotiations
with Dr. Milan Skrskic, lawyer's clerk here. The subject of these is
said to have been the well-known May Resolution of the Serb ultras and
the assembly of the Serb organization, which took place in November,
1907, that is after Spalajkovic's departure. Moreover he is said to have
{ferner soil er) — acquired influence over the editors of Srpska Rijeo and
to have written the articles ' Dogogjaje ' and ' Srbiji ' in praise of
Panic's policy." These hearsay denunciations of a badly-paid Bosnian
spy — for with the exception of George Nastic all the Bosnian spies seem
to be badly paid — were eagerly swallowed by the credulous historian.
Even if he failed to realize the worthlessness of such evidence, he might
surely have shrunk from thus exposing the contemptible and underhand
methods of thel^Bosnian police.
269
THE FRIEDJUNG TRIAL
holding in his hands the threads of Pan-Serb propaganda in Old
Servia, the Banat, Bosnia and Dalmatia. The witness mildly
hinted that he was not responsible for the sources of information
of M. Pinon, who had been in Constantinople and Vienna as
well as Belgrad. He regretted that he himself had become the
bogey of the Viennese Press, but this was not the occasion for
clearing himself from all its vague assertions.
But Dr. Friedjung excelled himself when he suggested that
the 12,000 francs which the " Report " represents Dr. Spalaj-
kovic as having paid over to Messrs. Pribicevic and Supilo might
in reality have found their way into his own private pocket.
This supposition he based upon a misinterpretation of Professor
Masaryk's speech in the Reichsrat in May, 1909, criticising the
conduct of the Agram High Treason Trial.^"^ Even here Dr.
Spalajkovic's self-possession did not desert him. Immedi-
ately after the speech, he said, he had telegraphed to Professor
Masaryk for an explanation, and had received the answer that
Masaryk, after expressing his firm conviction that the document
was false, had drawn the entirely " hypothetical conclusion "
that if genuine it must be regarded as a kind of promissory note
for 12,000 francs. " Only if this impossibility were possible,"
such was Masaryk's process of argument.
After a few more futile questions the long examination was
at an end, and Dr. Spalajkovic as he withdrew heaped coals of
fire upon the Judge by thanking him for his " impartial atti-
tude." It is unhappily impossible to congratulate the Judge
upon his attitude towards the Servian witnesses, and as I do
not belong to the diplomatic corps I am under no obligation
to slur over unwelcome facts. It is true that Dr. Wach did not
show the same lack of restraint as during the Supilo-Chlumecky
incident ; but he none the less openly placed himself upon the
side of the defendants, asking the Servian witnesses questions
which can only be described as unpardonable, aud more than
once assuming the manner of a schoolmaster towards his pupils.
In view of the eccentric — his enemies would call it offensive —
behaviour of Mr. Pavlovic, some excuse might be found for the
Judge's sharp command, " Will you be kind enough to stand
still ? " — though, as I have already suggested, it would have
been wiser to refuse to take the witness seriously. But what
can be said of a little incident which the Viennese press unani-
mously suppressed ? When towards the end of the cross-
examination Dr. Spalajkovic, nettled by the insults of Dr.
^""^ Masaryk, Dev Agramer Hochverratsprozess, p. 105.
270
COALITION WITNESSES
Friedjung, showed an apparent disinclination to answer one of
the many questions about the Slovenski Jug, and turned for a
moment in mute appeal to the jury, the Judge, throwing all
politeness to the winds, curtly exclaimed, " Kindly look a
little this way " {Bitte ein bisschen hieher zu sehen). A forger
in the dock might well have complained of the unfriendly tone.
The Servian Secretary of State proved his diplomatic training
by swallowing in silence so petty an insult.
In justice to Dr. Wach, it must be added that the conduct of
such a trial would have taxed the powers of the most experi-
enced judge in Europe, and that however little trouble he took
to conceal his own personal sympathies, he at any rate allowed
the fullest freedom of speech to both sides and practically
never ruled a question out of order. How far the legal pro-
fession would count this to him for righteousness is a question
which need not concern us.
XII. Coalition Witnesses.
When the court opened on the following Monday, the Judge
announced the rejection of the proposal that the Austro-Hun-
garian Minister in Belgrad should verify Dr. Spalajkovic's
statements, and based his decision on the argument — if argu-
ment it can be called — that the proposal had no bearing upon
the authenticity of the " documents ! " Needless to say, the
true reason was to be sought elsewhere.
He then read aloud a declaration of Dr. Gavrila, who offered
to depose on oath, that his intercourse with Dr. Spalajkovic
in Sarajevo was in no way connected with politics : that as
lawyer to the latter's father-in-law he was continually in the
house on business : that Dr. Spalajkovic not only avoided
political discussions on principle, but was also busily engaged at
the time on a work dealing with the Hague Conference, which
held the foremost place in all their conversations.
The question of the Servian Loan led to a long argument
between the rival counsel, which ended in the confirmation of
Dr. Spalajkovic's facts. The last Servian Loan was actually
voted in igo6 and was aheady being quoted on the Paris Stock
Exchange before the end of that year ; and Dr. Friedjung, with
a frankness which did him honour, now brushed aside the
quibbles of his counsel, and admitted that the loan of 1906 was
the last of which there could be any question here. As Dr.
Harpner pointed out, it was incredible that Dr. Spalajkovic,
271
THE FRIEDJUNG TRIAL
one of the men who arranged this very loan at Geneva,, could
less than a year later in a private statement to his chief have
placed the negotiations in the future instead of in the past.
After an amusing passage of arms between Dr. Harpner
and Dr. Kienbock, in which as usual the former scored bril-
liantly, a witness from Bosnia was heard, in the person of
Mr. Damjanovic, an intimate friend of Dr. Spalajkovic's father-
in-law. He denied Dr. Fried] ung's description of him as
the leader of the Serb Opposition in Bosnia, but admitted
that he was chairman of the committee which published
Srpska Rijec. He denied the assertion of the Bosnian Govern-
ment that Spalajkovi6 influenced the articles published by
this newspaper, and added, " Its information comes from
one of its spies, who can be had for five crowns." The Srpska
Rijec was, it is true, in low water and owed the S,erb Savings
Bank in Bosnia £1,300 ; but it had never received subven-
tions from abroad, as the forged minutes of the Slovenski
Jug suggested. The most it had received from Servia was
1,000 francs " from a wellwisher " and 500 francs from guests
assembled at a wedding ; and both contributions were pub-
licly acknowledged at the time. When asked by Dr. Fried-
jung to explain the cause of his party's failure at the Sara-
jevo communal elections in 1908, Mr. Damjanovic stated
that the former Town Council had been dissolved because
it had ventured to draw up statutes restricting the franchise
to Bosnian subjects, and thus affecting those officials who
preferred Austrian or Hungarian to Bosnian citizenship.
As a result, the Bosnian Government exercised strong pressure ;
and the fact that there were over 800 officials in Sarajevo
who had to record their vote in presence of their superiors,
sufficiently explained the failure of the Serb Opposition. Mr.
Damjanovic's evidence throws many interesting sidelights
upon the situation in Bosnia on the eve of the annexation,
but to discuss it at all adequately would lead far too far afield.
It was now the turn of the plaintiffs to be called as wit-
nesses. Above all, Count Pejacevi(5 was questioned regarding
Document XX of Dr. Friedjung's Green Book, the only genuine
article in the collection. Count Theodore Pejacevid, who
succeeded Count Khuen Hedervary in 1903 as Ban of Croatia,
continued to hold office under the Wekerle Cabinet, and eight
months after the conflict provoked between Hungary and
Croatia by Mr. Kossuth's Railway Bill had led to his resig-
nation, joined the ranks of the Croato-Serb Coalition. In
272
COALITION WITNESSES
February, 1906, when still Ban but not as yet member of the
Coalition, he had, in accordance with instructions from high
quarters, issued to the various High Sheriffs of Croatia-Slavonia
a confidential circular instructing them to keep under obser-
vation a number of political leaders in the various towns of
Croatia and Dalmatia — among others, Messrs. Medakovic,
PribiSevi6 and Supilo — and even to control their correspon-
dence. Owing to an indiscretion the contents of this circular
became public ; and on November 27, 1906, Count Pejacevic
made a statement on the subject in the Croatian Diet. In
assuming fuU responsibility for the circular, he hinted some-
what vaguely that he had not himself shared the doubts
which had prompted the order for such an inquiry, admitted
that the wording of the circular was calculated to convey
the erroneous idea that not merely an inquiry but definite
action against the persons named was intended, and declared
that it had been recalled not m^erely owing to his personal
conviction but also because not a shadow of a suspicion had
arisen, such as could justify the enquiry. Dr. Friedjung
included the circular in his Green Book and treated Count
PejaCevic's change of front, as revealed in his statement in
the Diet, as highly suspicious. Count Pejacevic under cross-
examination now emphasized the fact that the inquiry had
yielded entirely negative results, not one of the High Sheriffs
having discovered anything of a compromising nature. He
reminded the Court that Dr. Benedikt was wrong in asserting
that he had recalled the circular because he was a member
of the Coalition ; the Coalition at that time did not possess
the majority in the Diet, and he himself, standing outside
the parties, governed by means of an understanding between
the moribund " National " party and the Coalition, and
did not join the latter till after the elections of 1908. He
reaffirmed his statement in the Diet, and insisted that the
Coalition could not possibly have intrigued with Servia without
his knowledge.
Dr. Friedjung pointed out that when in November, 1905,
Dr. Tuskan — now President of the Coalition — made his notorious
attack upon " Vienna " in the Croatian Diet, Count Pejacevic
had been the first to raise an indignant protest ; how then
was it possible for him, as privy councillor and former Ban,
to join a party whose leader had employed such language ?
" Political convictions and personal opinions," replied Count
Pejacevic, " change often enough. There have been men
s.s.Q. 273 T
THE FRIED] UNG TRIAL
who were condemned to death for high treason and afterwards
became Hungarian Premiers." This reference to the great
Andrassy did not satisfy Dr. Friedjung, who remarked that
eighteen years had elapsed between the day when Andrassy's
effigy was burnt by the hangman and the date of his nomina-
tion as the first Premier of the new era in Hungary (1849-
1867), while less than three years separated Tuskan's speech
from Pejacevic's entrance into the Coalition. " There are
people in Hungary," retorted the witness, " who were involved
in the Resolution of Fiume and immediately afterwards
became ministers in Hungary." He might have fortified
this reference to Francis Kossuth and Polonyi by pointing
out that proceedings for Use majeste were actually pending
against the latter at the very moment when he was appointed
Minister of Justice.
When further asked whether it was possible to maintain
a control over the correspondence of private individuals and
whether such action was not a felony. Count Pejacevic,
with a curious smile, replied, " Oh, yes, it is possible ! " This
little incident lifts the curtain for a moment from one of the
most unsavoury features of Hungarian public life — the
violation of postal secrecy for political purposes.
The report of the experts. Professor von Resetar ^"^ and
Dr. Kraus, upon the Servian text of Dr. Spalajkovic's " Re-
port," was next submitted to the Court. Referring first to
the style, they remarked upon the length of the sentences,
the bureaucratic mannerisms, and the frequent Germanisms,
of which some might have been used by any educated Servian
or Croatian but others only became intelligible when trans-
lated literally into German. They then indicated certain
crass grammatical errors and expressed the opinion that the
report had been written " by someone who is not completely
versed either in Servian grammar or in Servian orthography."
Not having the original before them, they could not estab-
lish with absolute certainty whether some of the worst errors
were not those of the printers ; they were at any rate of a
kind such as no Servian with the slightest pretence to real
culture could have committed. The Judge interpreting this
to mean that the " Report " might have been written by a
*"' The son-in-law and successor of the famous Slavistic scholar Pro-
fessor Vatroslav von Jagic.
274
COALITION WITNESSES
diplomat, but not a man who could write good and correct
Servian, drew from Professor Resetar the following striking
opinion. " Whether a diplomat wrote it or not, I cannot
say. But if a diplomat wrote it, then he was no Servian."
Nothing could be more explicit than this. Dr. Kraus, it is
true, sought to weaken the impression produced in court
by a reference to critics who argued that Goethe and Lessing
had not fully mastered the German language and that Napo-
leon could not write French ! Professor Resetar however
under cross-examination adhered to the view that no Servian
or Croat of any education could have made such gross mis-
takes, and that after listening to Dr. Spalajkovic's evidence —
which was delivered in Servian and took up the whole of
Saturday's proceedings — ^he felt it to be incredible that such
a report could ever have been written by a man who spoke
such admirable Servian.
The plaintiff Mr. Budisavljevic now plied the experts with
numerous questions on technical points of style and phraseo-
logy. It thus transpired that the printed Servian version
of the Spalajkovic report which had been supplied to the ex-
perts, and i\from which Document XXI of the Green Book
was translated, was based upon a Cyrilline copy, specially
transcribed for Dr. Friedjung by a Croatian lady doctor
" from the copy at my disposal," in other words from the
copy placed at Dr. Fried] ung's disposal by the Ballplatz
authorities. The historian was also constrained to admit
that the proof sheets of this all-important " document " went
back to the printer without having even been submitted
for correction to the lady copyist ! " The matter naturally
went|through several hands, and in this way of course errors
of style or grammar may have crept in." The course of the
proceedings had already shown that the historian had not
verified the facts which his documents contained — even on
such important details as the Croatian elections and the
Servian Loan ; but it now became evident that he had also
neglected the elementary precautions enjoined by the study
of documents, precautions which in this case were rendered
all the more necessary by his ignorance of the Servian language.
Professor Resetar and Dr. Uebersberger then submitted
their opinion upon the photographs of the Slovenski Jug
" minutes," and explained in great detail the reasons which
led them to different conclusions. The former held not only
that the handwriting of two of the chief minutes differed
275
' " THE FRIED JUNG TRIAL
but that one was a deliberate imitation of the other ; while
the latter confirmed Dr. Friedjung's assertion that the hand-
writing of all the minutes was identical. Subsequent develop-
ments have confirmed the former's view. But it is obvious
that to accept Dr. Friedjung's own view on the matter involved
even more fatal consequences : for it would then suffice to
prove the falsity of one " document " in order to invalidate all
the others.
After Dr. Cingrija had given evidence regarding Supilo's
activity in Ragusa *°^ Count Kulmer was asked to describe
the situation in Croatia, in the name and from the standpoint
of the Croat deputies of the Coalition. He frankly admitted
that he had never approved of the Fiume Resolution, but
none the less held its underlying idea — the reconciliation of
Croat and Serb — to be essentially sound, since no Government
in Croatia could hope for a majority so long as the Serbs
were in opposition. At the elections he himself had stood
as an independent candidate, but had afterwards entered
the Coalition in answer to a personal appeal from Mr. Supilo,
who had succeeded in convincing him that the Fiume Resolu-
tion offered guarantees for a genuine constitutional regime
in Croatia. He could affirm upon oath that the influence
of Servia had never been noticeable within the Coalition, and
he declined to take Dr. Tuskan's abuse of " Vienna "seriously,
or to regard it otherwise than as an outburst provoked b}^
the unwise policy which was then being pursued towards
Croatia.
Dr. Lukinic was next allowed to defend himself against
the specific charges made against his person. Early in the
notorious Spalajkovic Report reference is made to a letter
addressed to the Servian Consul-General in Budapest by
the four deputies Supilo, Potocnjak, Pribicevic and Lukinic,
offering their services to Servia. In denying emphatically
the existence of any such letter. Dr. Lukinic pointed out
that at the period when it was supposed to have been written,
PribiSevic and Supilo were at open feud with Potocnjak, a
man who after belonging to and quarrelling with almost all
the many parties in Croatia has found it necessary to retire
altogether from politics. In the " memorial " of the Slo-
venski Jug to Dr. Milovanovic — No IV in the Rcichsposl
*"^ See page 293.
276
COMPROMISE
brochure — Dr. Kukinic is again referred to, as the recipient
of 7,000 francs from Belgrad in aid of the defence of the fifty-
three Serb prisoners in the Agram High Treason trial. As
he now pointed out, both he and close upon thirty other Croa-
tian advocates had voluntarily undertaken the defence, and
though the trial lasted nearly seven months, not one of them
received a penny for their trouble, either from Servia or from
any other source. On the contrary they had all contributed
from their private means towards the support of the families
of the persecuted Serbs.
XIII. Compromise.
The crushing nature of Dr. Spalajkovic's evidence, following
upon so many other unpleasant surprises, had not been lost
upon the defendants, and above all Count Aehrenthal and
the Ballplatz officials watched with growing anxiety the
interest displayed by the European press in these scandalous
revelations of their incapacity and lack of scruple. When
then the official confirmation of Professor Markovic's alibi
was at length received from the Berlin police authorities,
negotiations were opened with the plaintiffs with a view
to a compromise. The whole morning of the 21st was occu-
pied by the fruitless endeavour to find a formula acceptable
to both parties. Dr. Friedjung, while prepared to admit
the questionable origin of Documents XII and XIII — the
minutes of the Slovenski Jug of October 5 and 21 (O.S.), 1908,
which are directly disqualified by the Berlin alibi — as yet
failed to realize that the demolition of two " documents "
seriously affected the authenticity of the others also.
As no agreement could be reached. Dr. Wach reopened
the proceedings at four o'clock and called as witness Dr.
Vladimir von Nikolic, formerly head of the Croatian Depart-
ment of Justice under Count Pejacevic, and since the elections
of 1908 chairman of the executive committee of the Croato-
Serb Coalition. As he pointed out with evey natural emphasis,
this committee controlled every detail of the Coalition's
policy, and he had never missed a single meeting ; he was
thus in a position to take oath that there had never been
the faintest trace of treasonable tendencies among its mem-
bers. The great aim of the Coalition had been to revive
constitutional government in Croatia, to introduce modern
institutions such as freedom of elections, right of assembly,
postal secrecy and judicial independence, and to settle amicably
277
THE FRIEDJUNG TRIAL
with the Magyars the numerous violations of the Hungaro-
Croatian Compromise which had occurred since the year 1868.
When Kossuth's Railway Bill and the Croatian obstruction
in Budapest led to an open breach between the two nations,
the Hungarian Government resolved at all costs to break up
the Croato-Serb Coalition, and hoped to attain this end by
casting suspicion upon its individual members. The sur-
vival of the Coalition and the maintenance of an entente
between Croats and Serbs formed the sole guarantee for the
success of Croatia's struggle against Hungary.
In Croatia, continued Dr. Nikolic, it is nothing new for a
Government to brand its opponents as traitors and enemies
of the dynasty. In 1872 under Baron Levin Ranch — ^the
father of the notorious Baron Paul Ranch — similar forgeries
played a great part in Croatian politics, and an attempt was
made to implicate the poet Mazuranic and Bishop Stross-
mayer in treasonable intrigues.^"^ On that occasion also the
forged " minutes " of revolutionary meetings found credence
in authoritative quarters, until in 1879 the forger himself, a
certain Reicherzer, published a pamphlet confessing the
whole fraud. In short what is impossible in Vienna is only
too possible in the south of the Monarchy, where there exist
persons who make a living by the fabrication of similar slan-
ders. So far as the alleged money subsidies were concerned,
Dr. Nikolic regretfully admitted that he had himself con-
tributed from his own pocket a larger sum to the electoral
fund than had, according to Dr. Friedjung's " documents,"
been sent by the Servian Government ! As chairman of the
executive committee, he was naturally familiar with the
details of electoral expenditure and the sources from which
their funds were derived. Dr. Fried jung drew attention to
the fact that Agram, a town of 90,000 inhabitants, had no
fewer than twelve daily papers — as many as Vienna with its
two millions — and asked whether it was not the case that
only three or four of these were self-supporting. The witness,
while admitting a certain amount of truth in this suggestion,
added that the Agram newspapers served the whole country,
with its 2,600,000 inhabitants, and most of them were supported
at great sacrifice by their respective parties.
The evidence of Dr. Nikolic produced a distinct effect upon
the jury. But the final breach in their armour of suspicion
^"fl See p. 89.
278
COMPROMISE
against every Serb was made by Dr. Dusan Popovic, the
able Serb criminal lawyer, one of the youngest but most
popular and influential members of the Croato-Serb Coalition.
As one of the defending counsel in the infamous Agram trial,
he naturally had a complete mastery of his subject ; and
his gift for ready and humorous repartee showed to especial
advantage on the present occasion.
Dr. Popovic explained that he had been chosen as the
spokesman of the Serb members of the Coalition, partly be-
cause he had been in Belgrad more than any of them and
yet had never been accused of disloyal practices. He then
described the activity of the Serb Independent party since
its formation in 1883, its support of the Khuen regime and
the growing discontent of the new generation. " Till 1905
there were no constitutional guarantees in Croatia, and even
to-day there is no law asserting the independence of the judges,
the freedom of the press or the right of public assembly ! "
The Fiume Resolution was the natural result of such a situa-
tion, and was essentially the work of the Croats, not of the
Serbs, and least of all of the Kingdom of Servia ; for while
thirty Croat deputies took part in the negotiations, no Serb
was present, and the Serbs waited till the pact had been com-
pleted between Magyars and Croats, before they too declared
their adherence in the Resolution of Zara. The real motive
which prompted the Croats to come to terms with Budapest,
must be sought in their recollection of Vienna's ingratitude
after 1848, when despite all their sacrifices in the Habsburg
cause, the Croats — to quote again from Dr. Friedjung's own
History of Austria — received as reward what the Hungarians
received as punishment, ^^° Above all they were prompted by
the fear of " Vienna," by which must not be understood the
city of Vienna, the Sovereign or the Monarchy, but " certain
powerful political personages who are not eternal but change
from time to time, and who . . . wish to give the Magyars carte
blanche in internal politics (viz. of Transleithania) simply
in order that the latter may abandon their military demands."
Moreover Dr. Friedjung and Dr. Funder were quite mistaken
in regarding the Resolution of Fiume as a mere conspiracy
of Budapest and Agram against Vienna ; for the Croats its
most important provisions were those relating to internal
reforms — electoral, judicial, administrative — and to the union
^i" In reality this famous phrase is merely cited by Dr. Friedjung from
an older work.
279
THE FRIEDJUNG TRIAL
of Dalmatia with Croatia.*^^ In short, the Resolution had
nothing whatever to do with Pan-Serb propaganda, and the
defendants might learn this fact from the organizer of the
present anti-Serb campaign. Baron Paul Rauch, who on Novem-
ber 13, 1905, spoke as follows : — " It seems to me that the
honourable name of a ' National ' party is far better deserved
by those men who have adhered to the Fiume Resolution
and broken away from Vienna, whence we have never experi-
enced anything save bitter disappointments." Since then
unhappily political slander and vituperation had grown com-
moner in Croatia, accusations of Pan-Serbism began to be
heard, and in the notorious " Argus " affair (see p. 300) the
identical charges were formulated which form the basis of
the present trial. "To-day in Croatia," added Dr. Popovi6,
" they adduce as proofs of this (Pan-Serb) propaganda, the
very emblems which in the history of the Monarchy have
been rendered so famous and so sacred by the blood of our
fathers in 1848." ^12
t Dr. Popovic next confessed that during the campaign of
calumny directed against members of his party, he had more
than once made inquiries through various relations and
friends in Belgrad, and that possibly his southern tempera-
ment had engendered temporary suspicions which his confi-
dence in his colleagues should have rendered impossible. His
inquiries of course convinced him that the charges were
utterly groundless. Perhaps the most interesting feature in
Dr. Popovid's long and impressive speech was his correction
of the misleading extracts quoted by Dr. Friedjung from the
speeches of the Coalition leaders.
1. For instance. Dr. Tuskan's famous threat of marching
rifle in hand against Vienna, was not part of a speech at all,
but a wild interjection uttered during the most disorderly
scene which the Croatian Parliament had witnessed in recent
years, and from the context it was obvious that his anger
was directed against the Dual system, not against Austria
or the dynasty.
2. According to Dr. Friedjung, Mr. Budisavljevi6 had
declared in the Diet that he would accept money from Servia.
^ " *" In accordance with § 65 of the Ausgleich.
*^2 A reference to the Serb national arms and colours, under which
Stratimirovic led the Serbs of the Banat in 1848 against the Magyars,
but wliich were treated by the Public Prosecutor in the Agram High
Treason trial as " symptomatic " of treason.
280
COMPROMISE
The true facts were as follows. In reply to a deputy who
accused Srbobran of receiving 30,000 francs from Belgrad
Budisavljevic answered : "I declare openly before the Croatian
Sabor that if Servia had given even one halfpenny in the
interests of the Southern Slavs, the Croat-Servian and Bulgarian
race, I would like Wolf '^^^ openly acknowledge it in the Diet.
Permit me to say frankly that society in Servia has not
realized the mission which it has to fulfil towards the Croat
Slovene and Bulgarian race as well as towards itself. ... I
know that my words will perhaps be published to-morrow
in the foreign press, but that does not disturb me." To Dr.
Fried] ung's remark, " That means, ' If Servia were to give
money, I would take it,' " Dr. Popovic neatly retorted, " No,
that means, ' If I had received money, I would admit it '."
To those of us who read continually in the newspapers
of the relations of the Irish party with Mr. Patrick Ford and
the Irish Americans, Dr. Friedj ung's point of view is, if
not absolutely incomprehensible, at any rate doctrinaire
in the highest degree.
3. Dr. Friedj ung had charged Supilo with declaring that
it would be a blessing for Bosnia if it were detached from
the Monarchy. Dr. Popovic now read aloud the exact words
of Supilo, which ran as follows : — " And if fortune should
have it, that Bosnia and Herzegovina leave the complex of
the Monarchy, then it is natural that every true and honour-
able Croat should prefer that if Bosnia cannot be Croatian
it should faU to the Servian brother rather than to a stranger.
But if fortune decides that Bosnia should enter that organism
in which Croatia now is, then it is the duty of every true patriot
to strive with fiery zeal, in order that Bosnia and Herzegovina
may fall into the hands not of strangers but of their Croatian
brothers,"
4. Finally Dr. Popovic referred to the much quoted article
of Srbobran, in which the Kingdom of Servia was treated
as decisive for the attitude of the Serbs in Croatia-Slavo-
nia. He reminded the defendants that when the breach
between Agram and Budapest led to the appointment of
Baron Ranch as Ban of Croatia, the Serb Radical party seceded
from the Croato-Serb Coalition and coquetted with Ranch
and Wekerle. But while almost every newspaper in Belgrad
espoused the side of the Coalition, Samouprava, the official
' *^3 A reference to Karl Hermann Wolf, the notorious Pan-German
deputy in the Austrian Reichsrat.
281
THE FRIEDJUNG TRIAL
organ of the Servian Government, wrote in favour of Ranch
and approved the attitude of the Serb Radicals. The latter's
chief organ Zastava, so far from accusing the Coahtion of
being under the influence of Belgrad, actually argued that
the Belgrad press was inspired from Agram.^^^ It was under
such circumstances that Srbobran wrote as follows : — " Servia
as an independent state is in a position to judge what policy
best corresponds to general Servian interests. For the Serbs —
i.e. of Croatia — it cannot be a matter of indifference what
policy the Servian people outside the Monarchy pursues."
" What have you to say to that, Doctor ? " exclaimed
the witness, turning to Dr. Friedjung.
" Just as Berlin must not be the standard for the policy
of the German Austrians," replied Dr. Friedjung, " in exactly
the same way Belgrad must not be the standard for the Serbs
of Austria."
" Were you always of this opinion, Dr. Friedjung ? I
have been told that you once belonged to the Pan-Germans."
" A Pan-German in the sense that all Germans are one in
spirit and in culture — geistig und kuUurell zusammengehoren —
a Pan-German in this sense I still am to-day."
" Well, Dr. Friedjung, we Serbs are just the same."
No sooner had the Court risen, than negotiations between
the parties were resumed ; but many hours were required
that night and the following morning — Wednesday, December
22 — before an understanding could be reached. Dr. J. M.
Baernreither, one of the most prominent German Austrian poli-
ticians and a man who enjoyed the confidence alike of Count
Aehrenthal and the Heir-Apparent, appeared upon the scene
and made every effort to bring matters to a successful issue.
After urging upon Mr. Supilo and his colleagues the grave
issues at stake — the reputation of Austrian diplomacy and
the honour of the Monarchy — he offered positive assurances
that an end would be put to the prevailing absolutist system
in Croatia. Their consent could however only be obtained
to a compromise whose terms should be explicit enough to
preclude the subsequent use against them of any of the famous
" documents." Dr. Friedjung, on the other hand, showed
extreme reluctance to admit the falsification of any save the
*'^ This additional proof of the relations between Dr. PaSic, the Servian
Premier and Zastava — in Neusatz (Ujvidek) in South Hungary — only
serves to confirm the evidence of Dr. Polit {see p. 260).
282
COMPROMISE
two "|documents " directly affected by the Berlin alibi, and
seemed to consider that lus reputation as a historian would
suffer less" from this unbending attitude than from a frank
admission of his error.
It is an open secret that the compromise was due to direct
pressure from the Foreign Office, which on the one hand
realized that a condemnation of the defendants would be
equivalent to a public vote of non-confidence in itself, but
on the other hand feared the bad effect which would have
Been created abroad, if the jury had acquitted on patriotic
grounds. In that event the Servian Government was pre-
pared to appear before the Hague Convention and there to
claim the assistance of the Great Powers in exposing the
forgeries and in vindicating the good name of Dr. Milovanovic.
At last complete agreement was reached ; and a careful
programme was drawn up for the concluding scene of the
trial. When the court opened, Mr. Supilo was invited to
give evidence as to the charges of bribery from Servia con-
tained in the forged documents, and as to the visits to Belgrad
which had drawn on him so much suspicion.^^^ After polite
expressions of regret from Dr. Benedikt and Professor Masaryk
for a fierce passage of arms which had taken place between
them during the latter's cross-examination, the Judge read
aloud the official statement of the Berlin police, proving
beyond all possibility of doubt that Professor Markovic was
actually in Berlin on the very day when he was alleged to
have presided over a meeting of the Slovenski Jug in Belgrad.
Counsel for the prosecution hereupon asked Dr. Fried] ung
what he had to say in view of so clear an alibi ; and the his-
torian then read aloud the following declaration : — " I made
all the assertions of my article after thorough examination,
and only reached the fundamental view expressed in my.
article after conscientious consideration of all the circum-
stances before me. I am no swashbuckler — Klopffechter —
and know how to appreciate the importance as evidence of
Professor Markovic's stay in Berlin now officially confirmed.
I therefore declare loyally that the two documents of October
20 and 21 must be eliminated, and that I should no longer
like to base any claim upon {in Anspruch nehmen) the remain-
ing documents. Having made this declaration, I can say
with a calm conscience that in my whole attitude in the affair
"5 See page 295
283
THE FRIEDJUNG TRIAL
and also in to-day's declaration I had in view the welfare of
our common fatherland."
A brief statement followed on behalf of the responsible
editor of the Reichspost ; and Dr. Harpner then withdrew
the prosecution, after briefly stating the motives which had
prompted his clients to appeal to the arbitrament of a Viennese
court. Unable to trust themselves to an Agram court, they
came before a civilized court in a constitutional country, in
order that all the world might learn the policy of which they
were the victims. No one had ever questioned the good
faith of Dr. Fried] ung, and after his declaration the Coalition
could fairly regard the trial as at an end, since they were
convinced that the opinion of the world and the verdict of
history would be upon their side. After a similar declaration
from Mr. Supilo's counsel, the Judge pronounced the formal
verdict of acquittal, and the Court broke up amid general
congratulations. Dr. Wach was only voicing the universal
sentiment when he expressed the hope that the trial would
bear good fruit for Austria. Rarely if ever has so much dirty
linen been washed before the Austrian public ; and few states-
men will envy Count Aehrenthal his laundry bill.
The manner in which the origin of the forgeries came to
light, will be described in a subsequent chapter. Meanwhile
it will suffice to summarize in the briefest possible manner
the points at which the prosecution successfully effected a
breach in the " documents."
Out of the seventeen " minutes " of the Slovenski Jug,
two (Nos. XIII and XXIII) were annihilated by the alibi of
Professor Markovic, which proved beyond all question that
at the moment when he was supposed to be presiding over
a revolutionary society in Belgrad, he was actually studying
law at Berlin University. The defence had specially empha-
sized the fact that all the" minutes "were in the same hand-
writing ; and in that case, when two had been invalidated, all
the rest must also be regarded as worthless. The falsity of
another of the " minutes " (No. II) was clearly shown by its
reference to the " ensuing elections in Croatia," at a date
when they were already over. A hundred other details com-
bined to render the " minutes " extremely suspicious — the
numerous Croaticisms and Germanisms in ostensibly Serb
documents : the use of New Style dates, incredible in an
Orthodox country Hke Servia : the fact that the author some-
284
COMPROMISE
times thinks in " crowns," instead of dinars or francs : the
variations in the signatures of the president and officials of
the Club *i^ : the confusion regarding the office-bearers *" : the
fact that a secret central committee was formed, and none
the less the really secret business was discussed at the ordinary
meetings.*^^ Of course the bare idea that a revolutionary
committee, above all one composed of Servian students, should
have kept minutes at all was highly suspicious, and of itself
suggested the bureaucratic origin of the " documents."
The notorious Report of Dr. Spalajkovic (No. XXI) was not
merely headed by imaginary numbers and signed in an im-
possible manner, but was, in the opinion of the experts, written
in a style so ungrammatical and so essentially un-Serb, as to
preclude its author from being an educated Servian, still
less a Servian diplomat. Its references to the Servian Budget
were incorrect. Its use of Dr. Polit's name betrayed the
forger's ignorance. Above all, it contained a reference to a
State Loan which Parliament was to sanction next autumn,
whereas this loan had actually been sanctioned a year previ-
ously. As the alleged author of the Report had himself con-
cluded the negotiations for the loan, it was impossible to
argue that he could have made so crude an error. The instruc-
tions of Dr. Pasic to the librarian Mr. Tomic (No. B of the
Reichspost " documents ") were such as no serious statesman
could have written. The instructions of Dr. Milovanovic to
the Servian Minister in Vienna (No. E., do.), the most impos-
sible " document " of all, could not survive their perusal in
cold blood, and indeed no diplomat in Europe could ever have
credited a colleague, however incapable — and Dr. Milovanovic
is the very reverse of incapable — with writing such an effusion.
Its absurd references to the Cabinet of St. James, to " Golden
Prague " and " the Czech Kingdom " amply sufficed to prove
its falsity, quite apart from its wretched literary style. In
short, the diplomatic " documents " were palpable forgeries,
but were as palpably not written by a mere spy.
The compromise in which the trial ended for the moment
saved the real culprits from well-merited exposure, but left the
**^ The former sometimes appears as B. Markovic, sometimes as
Bozidar, sometimes as the more famihar Bozo.
*!' E.g. in No. VI Ljuba Jovanovic is given as Vice-president : in
No. X Lj. Davidovic ; in No. XII again Ljubomir Jovanovic.
«i8 Cf. No. VII.
285
THE FRIEDJUNG TRIAL
world in no doubt as to their identity. The Zeity^d^s merely
voicing the general opinion, when it described the Friedjung
trial as " a cleansing storm " and as " a fiasco of our methods of
obtaining diplomatic intelligence," since the documents were
not good, but clumsy, forgeries. The Neues Wiener Journal
was still more outspoken, and called the issue of the trial " a
verdict of ' Guilty ' against the Foreign Office," neatly adding
that " the leading authorities " {Leitende Stellen) of the Mon-
archy in reality deserved the title of " misleading " ; while
the well-known military journal, Danzers Armee Zeitung,
concluded a scathing article with the words, " To the devil
with the Police Spy System." The Vaterland, the organ of
the Conservative clericals, argued that the trial had proved
that " Vienna wished the Croats well." The " triumph "
of the Coalition would, it added, have good results, " if the
Croats are now given something more than mere words and
friendly phrases."
Perhaps the most effective criticism of the trial is to be found
in Die Fackel,^^^ from the pen of that brilliant and characteris-
tically Viennese satirist, Karl Kraus. " In Court were heard
the words : ' These documents were to have supplied Europe
with the proof that Austria-Hungary had been compelled to
resort to arms by Servia's perfidious connexion with shady
elements in our Monarchy.' Thus spoke a misused historian :
the documents, which might have deceived the penetration of
a public schoolboy, are proved to be forgeries, and the man
who misused the good faith of a historian, of a whole popula-
tion, of Europe, without being able to excuse himself with the
plea that he himself was not misused, the statesman who is
the victim of a forger of operetta standard — Count Aehrenthal,
who has not stinted our money over preparations for war and
proofs of its necessity, who has misused our faith in order to
sacrifice our blood, he does not leave us in the hours of doubt,
he does not go into exile among the Eskimos, he, the condemned
of this trial, gives us no public apology [Ehrenerkldrung) and
we shall pay the costs."
Of the two defendants, Dr. Friedjung had to bear the brunt
of criticism. Dr. Funder had merely acted as any journalist
would have acted in his place : he had naturally assumed that
the Foreign Office dealt only in genuine documents, and the
mere fact that he received them from such a quarter, absolved
him from all need of inquiry into their general character.
"* No. 293, January 4, 1910.
286
COMPROMISE
Dr. Friedjung, on the other hand, had expressly debarred
himself from the privilege of this argument, and had insisted
that he had applied to the " documents " all the canons of
historical research and the strictest documentary tests. In
view of his ignorance of the Serb language and alphabet, it is
unfortunately impossible to allow his claim. But it is equally
impossible to avoid sympathizing keenly with him ; for never
has the confidence of a historian in those who control his
country's foreign policy, been more shamefully abused, and
there is good reason to believe that Dr. Friedjung, when he
at last realized his position, made it a point of honour to adhere
to a standpoint from which many a man would have considered
himself absolved, in view of the deception practised upon him.
Dr. Friedjung's real fault consisted in yielding to the flatter-
ing attentions of the Foreign Minister. His journalistic
instincts tempted him to aspire to the position of a new Gentz
to the modern Metternich. He, too, like more exalted per-
sonages, seems to have assumed that Count Aehrenthal would
not work with impudent forgeries as the groundwork of his
policy, and hence accepted without further question a series
of " documents " in a language which he did not know and
therefore could not control. The trial utterly demolished his
claim to be regarded as a politician of judgment or acumen ;
but it need not affect our verdict upon him as a historian.
In writing the fatal article of March 25, 1909, and in all that
he said in court, he gave free rein to the somewhat blatant
patriotism which the Bosnian crisis had evoked ; in the books
which have won him so wide and solid a reputation, this note
is happily wanting. In short, the Friedjung Trial has supplied
us with yet another proof that " a great historian may also be
a naive politician."
287
CHAPTER XI
The Supilo-Chlumecky Incident
BEFORE attempting an analysis of the documents or
discussing the results of this momentous trial, it is
necessary to bring the Supilo-Chlumecky incident to a con-
clusion. Much as I should have liked to avoid discussing an
incident which would appear to involve the grossest perjury
on the one side or the other, I cannot unhappily shut my
eyes to its extreme importance, both in its bearing upon the
political situation in Croatia and Dalmatia and upon the
future career of a man who is beyond all question the ablest
living Croat politician. The necessity for treating the affair
in special detail will, I am persuaded, have already become
apparent to the reader ; and I can only hope that he will
acquit me of laying needless stress upon the personal element
in the case.
During Monday's proceedings Mr. Supilo moved that the
following witnesses be heard — Mr. Toncic, now Vice-Governor
of Dalmatia, but at the time of the alleged bribery Baron
Chlumecky's superior in the prefecture of Ragusa, who could
affirm that Supilo had never written in favour of the Austrian
Government as Chlumecky had alleged ; Mr. Kar(^anski,
Kdllay's agent in Ragusa, who could affirm that he had never
given Supilo a farthing and that Supilo and Chlumecky had
never met in his house ; and Count Szapdry, the former
Governor of Fiume, who could affirm that he had never spoken
with Supilo and had never given him money, and that at the
time of his alleged remark to Dorotka Supilo 's newspaper
was being confiscated almost every other day owing to its
violent attacks upon the Hungarian Government.
The letter which played so important a part in Baron
Chlumecky's evidence, was at last read aloud in court ^^o and Mr,
*2o See page 237.
288
PERSONALITIES
Supilo was able to point out that it contained no trace of
secret denunciation, but simply related a fact which he was
about to publish in Novi List.
On Tuesday Dr. Rode, appearing for the first time, pro-
posed as witnesses the Governor of Dalmatia, Baron Nardelli,
the Mayor of Ragusa, Dr. Pero Cingrija, and the ex-Ban
Count Theodore Pejacevid, and sought to justify their sum-
mons by the following arguments, " The witness Baron
Chlumecky was described by the Judge as a specialist in Bos-
nian matters, and he himself gave himself out as one who
has clear insight into Bosnian chaos and into Servian con-
ditions. I wish to prove through the Governor of Dalmatia
what political role Chlumecky played in the Governor's office
at Zara and in the prefecture of Ragusa : that he was not
entrusted with any special political mission : that owing
to his attitude in society and owing to certain intrigues he
was disciplinarily transferred to Makarska, a circumstance
which the witness deliberately suppressed (here Dr. Rode
was in error : Baron Chlumecky did not suppress the fact) ;
that he had to employ the whole influence of himself and his
family in order to get back to Ragusa. The Mayor of Ragusa
will give evidence that Chlumecky during his stay at Ragusa
took very little share in politics, had the reputation of a man
who was impossible in Ragusa and was the laughing-stock
of the town, run after by the street-arabs (another needless
exaggeration). In Hermann Bahr's recently published book
Dalmatinische Reise ^^^ it is said of Baron Chlumecky, ' I know
too well how he spent his time in Ragusa, what is thought
of him in Dalmatia.' I have no intention of bringing up
the private affairs of an incriminating witness. But it seems
to me important whether this man who pretends to have
played a great political role in Bosnia and claims to have
been drawn into conversation by so important a person as
Supilo — whether Supilo ever spoke with him about politics
at that period or not." Here again Dr. Rode indulged in
needless exaggeration ; for at the time of the alleged bribery
Supilo was still an unknown journalist, and Chlumecky a
young man of high social standing. The Judge then was only
within his rights in insisting that counsel should moderate
his attacks upon an absent witness. Dr. Rode then urged
that the Mayor of Ragusa could bear witness to the Catonic
*^i One of the best books on Modern Dalmatia.
S.S.Q. 289 U
THE SUPILO-CHLUMECKY INCIDENT
habits of life of Supilo, who although his party would at any
time have placed money at his disposal, had always lived as
a poor man — ein armer Teufel — and was still one to-day. In
the same way Count Pejacevic, the former Ban, could give
evidence that though he and other members of the party
could have assisted Supilo materially, Supilo had never dreamt
of asking their help.
Dr. Benedikt opposed the summons of these witnesses
and argued that Baron Chlumecky counted as one of the
most serious political writers in Austria, and that in any case
the discussion on this point was irrelevant, since any person
was capable of judging whether he had or had not given 200
crowns to another man. Supilo was again treated with scant
courtesy by the Judge, but had perhaps laid himself open to a
rebuff by repeating what his counsel had already said for him.
It was not till Wednesday that the first real step was taken
towards Supilo 's rehabilitation. A letter from Count Ladislas
Szap^ry was read out by the Judge, in which the ex-Governor
of Fiume declared that he had never been personally acquainted
with Mr. Supilo. He admitted having once discussed Supilo
with Dorotka, but so far as he could remember, " Dorotka's
evidence certainly did not entirely correspond with my words.
It is certain that I was then and still am of the opinion — so
far as I can recollect such trifles after ten years — that the
Gubemium often helped Supilo 's paper with small contribu-
tions. I naturally can neither remember the sum nor the
particular instances nor the officials who acted as go-betweens."
Mr. Supilo, after pointing out that his disclaimer of personal
acquaintance with Count Sgapary was thus confirmed, insisted
that the latter's reference to payments made to Novi List
must rest on a misunderstanding. There are, he said, in
Fiume certain proscribed individuals, who are under police
supervision and give themselves out as journalists, even of
big papers. One of these men pretends to be on the staff
of the Novoje Vremja. It is by no means impossible that
one of these scoundrels, who wheedled sums of five and six
florins out of Count Szapary and his successor Count Nako,
has also got money in the name of Novi List." Supilo closed
his statement with the remark that as a journalist he had been
repeatedly slandered by his enemies ; but one of the leaders
of the Dalmatian Serbs had shortly before his death begged
forgiveness for these unjust slanders.
Next day Mr. Rode returned to the charge with still greater
290
ALLEGED BRIBERY
vigour. He begged the Court to summon as a witness Dr. Julius
Mogan, advocate in Fiume, who could give evidence on the
following point. " Baron Chlumecky affirmed that he had
not subscribed to Novi List and would have sent it back if
it had been sent to him." (Counsel for the defence : " That
he didn't say.") " Of course. He made this deposition, and
it is from A to Z contrary to the facts. For I can prove that
this newspaper was sent regularly to Baron Chlumecky from
1901 to 1907, that he did not send it back, that he did not
pay the subscription for it, and that no less than about twenty
reminders urging payment of arrears of subscription were
sent to him, and that he did not see fit to pay his subscription
until the Fiume advocate Dr. Mogan in the name of the pub-
lishers sent him a sharp lawyer's letter." This point Dr.
Rode regarded as important, as tending to prove his client's
contention, that Baron Chlumecky's evidence was false from
beginning to end.
Dr. Rode next proposed the summons of Mr. Pavic von
Frauenthal, formerly Vice-Governor of Dalmatia, to prove
that Baron Chlumecky had spread the rumour that Baron
David, at that time Governor of Dalmatia, and his wife stood
in treasonable relations with the Prince of Montenegro. Baron
David, said Dr. Rode, had expressed the desire not to be
summoned as a witness, since he considered it beneath his
dignity to refute Chlumecky, but had added that Mr. Pavic
could supply the desired information.
Finally Dr. Rode urged the summons of Mr. Ruzic, one of
the group of wealthy Croats to whom Novi List belonged.
Mr. Ruzic was in a position to prove not only the integrity
of Supilo's character, but also the absurdity of the accusation
that Novi List could ever have been subsidized, directly or
indirectly, by the Hungarian Government, to which it had
always been so bitterly hostile until the eve of the Resolution
of Fiume.
Dr. Benedikt opposed the hearing of these witnesses, on
the ground that Dr. Rode was following the old Roman custom
of calling in Laudatores ; but Dr. Rode was ready with the
crushing retort that the latest methods of Viennese procedure
seemed to be the introduction of Calumniatores. " When
counsel for the defence speaks of the despairing flap of Supilo's
wings, I would beg to remark that Supilo is to-day more alive
than ever." Objectionable as all these personalities are, it
must not be forgotten that the defence set the example by
291
THE SUPILO-CHLUMECKY INCIDENT
summoning Chlumecky, whose evidence was in its essence
an attempt to rake up Supilo's past and so discredit his present.
Two days later Dr. Rode proposed the examination of a
high official in the Hungarian Ministry of the Interior, who
had been Count Szapary's right hand in Fiume and would
therefore know all about the alleged subsidies to Novi List,
and also of the chairman of the limited company to which
that newspaper belongs, who could prove that Supilo as editor
could not have accepted subsidies for the newspaper, while
the company was financially independent and obviously not
likely to be paid by its bitterest political opponents. Search
should also be made among the postal receipts of May to
August 1907 in order to prove that Baron Chlumecky did
actually send to Novi List a postal order of 137 kr. 85 h.
Almost all these motions were rejected by the Judge, who
showed a marked reluctance to revive the dispute between
Supilo and Chlumecky. He had very probably arrived at
the conviction that the whole incident would form the subject
of a separate action and need not therefore be mixed up with
the present trial.
Of all the witnesses proposed, only two were allowed —
Mr. Toncic and Dr. Cingrija. The former, who appeared be-
fore the Court on Friday afternoon, was now Vice-Governor
of Dalmatia, but at the period in question had been formerly
Baron Chlumecky's superior in the prefecture of Ragusa.
In the course of his evidence he indicated the modest role
played by Supilo as journalist and politician at the period
in question ; his newspaper had not merely been violently
anti-Serb but had criticised so openly certain of the Govern-
ment officials, " that it had to be confiscated." He inferred
rather than stated in so many words, that the paper had not
been actually anti-Austrian, since " of course a pronouncedly
anti-Austrian attitude would also have been confiscated," —
a phrase which charmingly illustrates the blend of naivete
and reactionary sentiment for which the Dalmatian bureaucrat
is justly famous. Supilo, he said, had often lamented to him
his own lack of means and the small circulation of his paper,
but had never asked or received any material support from
the local authorities, nor had he — the witness — ever heard
of the alleged bribe until he read the newspaper accounts of
the present trial. Mr. Toncic, who under examination showed
a marked but not unnatural disinclination to commit himself
by a straight answer to a straight question, skilfully avoided
292
DALMATIAN BACKWATERS
expressing any opinion upon Supilo's private character, but
assured the Court that Baron Chlumecky had unquestionably
been taken seriously in Ragusa and had filled a position far
superior to his office.
Only one concrete fact emerged from Mr. Toncic's evidence,
but this was not without importance and tended to bear
down again the balance as it was rising in Supilo's favour.
Mr. Toncic stated that a former official of the Ragusan prefec-
ture had once told him of a conference held between him,
Baron Kallay's agent Karcanski, Baron Chlumecky and Mr.
Supilo, the aim of which was the formation of an Austrophil
and Serbophobe club under the name of " Austria." Supilo's
presence at this conference, Mr. Toncic added, had earned for
him attacks in the local Serb newspaper, which also accused
him of repeatedly accepting money from Karcanski. Mr.
Toncic denied all personal knowledge as to the truth of these
charges ; the most he could say was that Chlumecky had
once asked him whether Supilo was worthy of support and
that he had understood the question as an inquiry whether
Supilo's political attitude justified material support from
the Austrian side.
Mr. Supilo once more had appearances against him. He
denied having ever taken part in any such conference, and
affirmed that he had only once been in Karcanski's house,
and on that occasion the only other persons present had been
the latter and his sister. These disclaimers were received
by the Court with scarcely veiled scepticism, but were confirmed
at a later stage of the trial by a telegram from Mr. Karcanski,
who offered to give evidence under oath that throughout his
stay at Ragusa Supilo had only once been in his house and
had met no one there save himself and his sister : that he,
Supilo and Chlumecky had never in their lives all been to-
gether, and that he had never given or even offered money
to Supilo.
Finally another witness was heard, whose evidence threw
new and interesting light upon the incident. This was Dr.
Melko Cingrija, a prominent Dalmatian lawyer and politician,
and son of the veteran Mayor of Ragusa Dr. Pero Cingrija,
who did so much to bring about the Resolution of Fiume.
He stated that he himself had been present at the conference
with Karcanski, Chlumecky and several other Ragusan poli-
ticians ; but he had no recollection of Supilo having been
there, though he declined to give a positive assurance after
293
THE SUPILO-CHLUMECKY INCIDENT
the lapse of so many years. He was however positive that
the conference referred to was the only one which ever took
place, not merely because his position in the party made it
impossible for such a meeting to be held without his know-
ledge, but also because the Serbs, who at that time controlled
the movements of their rivals by a regular service of private
spies, would unquestionably have reported the fact in their
newspapers. " I remember," he added, " that on that occa-
sion, when we left Karcanski's late at night, a (Serb) vedette
was still there."
Cross-examined as to Supilo's financial circumstances. Dr.
Cingrija stated that Supilo, whom he had known almost since
they were children, lived in a very modest way, worked very
hard, and had practically no requirements ; he had always
acted from conviction or from sentiment and had never allowed
any one to influence him. He had more than once found
friends who were only too ready to lend him money, but had
invariably paid them back. Supilo's policy of hostility to
the Serbs had reached its climax at the very period in question,
and hence any such incentive as Baron Chlumecky's alleged
bribe would have been entirely superfluous. Hence the
witness was profoundly convinced of Supilo's innocence.
The morning following Dr. Cingrija's evidence was devoted
to fruitless negotiations between the two parties, and when
the proceedings were resumed that afternoon, the evidence
of Dr. Nikolic and Dr. Popovic, full of interest as it was, was
already regarded on both sides as something in the nature of
a stopgap, pending the resumption of negotiations. When
at last on Wednesday morning complete agreement was reached
and the proceedings were wound up in accordance with a care-
fully concerted programme, it was felt that above all full
opportunity should be offered to Mr. Supilo to rebut the charges
directed against him by the forgers, the more so as the Chlu-
mecky incident had diverted attention from the real issues
of the trial. No sooner had the court opened than the Judge,
with a courtesy which offered a striking contrast to his former
demeanour, invited Mr. Supilo to defend himself against
the accusation of bribery by foreign powers.
" Perhaps there is no one in Croatia," began Mr. Supilo,
" who has been slandered so much as I, as having received
money from every conceivable country and Government."
As an illustration of this, he pointed out how he had been
charged with receiving 100,000 crowns — ^£4,160 — for his ser-
294
MR. SUPILO'S DEFENCE
vices in bringing about the Resolution of Fiume. In an inter-
view with Dr. Lueger, the latter had frankly apologised for
believing this story, adding that if Supilo had received even
ten crowns from the Magyars, the famous Croatian obstruction
in Budapest would never have taken place.
" I am very poor and have done a lot of political work. . . .
I did not create the situation in which our nation was, but
as a young man found it so. For some years I went with the
stream and thought it my sacred duty to fight for the Croat
idea against the Serbs. Later on I came to see that we are a
single natioji speaking a single language, and that it is mere
folly for us to fight against each other. And I had the courage
to say this to my countrymen and to preach another policy
of unity between Croats and Serbs, and this unity has borne
good fruits." Mr. Supilo then explained that despite his
limited income he had managed to save a little, and that
whenever he had laid by £5 or £10, he had been in the habit
of making short journeys abroad, for instance to Italy and
Switzerland, as also inside the Monarchy, in order to study
on the spot social linguistic or political conditions. In this
way he had twice been in Belgrad. During his first visit, in
March, 1902, he did not meet any Servian politician, and the
dominant topic of the day was the relation of Alexander to
the unhappy Draga. His second visit took place in April,
1905, when there were rumours of war between Servia and
Bulgaria and of a counter revolution against the regicide
regime ; and on this occasion, with the aid of a Hungarian
acquaintance in Belgrad, he managed to obtain an audience
with the Premier, Dr. Pasic. Mr. Supilo gave a humorous
description of how that wily old statesman evaded all ques-
tions of the still unknown journalist and bowed him out with
meaningless compliments. His concluding words deserve to
be quoted verbatim : — " I would like to add that all these
documents which write of me as receiving money or the value
of money from Servia, are a maUcious invention. Were I to
fall into the bitterest poverty and had not even a crust of
bread, I would rather accept support from my worst enemy
than from Servia. Do you know why ? In order that no
one can reproach me, the former anti-Serb, of having followed
for money a Serbophil policy. I wanted to make peace with
the Serbs because the struggle between Serbs and Croats would
have worn us both out. I succeeded in concluding peace, and
no power on earth will avail to destroy the unity between us."
295
THE SUPILO-CHLUMECKY INCIDENT
Mr. Supilo's evidence was succeeded by the reading of
Professor Markovic's Berlin alibi and by Dr. Friedjung's
declaration. Dr. Harpner then withdrew the prosecution
on behalf of the Coalition, and Dr. Rode followed suit on behalf
of Mr. Supilo, after pointing out that much had transpired in
the course of the proceedings to rehabilitate his client, and that
Croatian public opinion, which alone is qualified to pass judg-
ment upon him, had never for an instant doubted his innocence.
On this note the trial ended, leaving the Coalition as a whole
completely victorious. But Mr. Supilo, despite the favour-
able turn taken by the proceedings, left the court under a
cloud, and it is difficult to resist the conclusion that he was
mistaken in deciding not to prosecute Baron Chlumecky on
a charge of perjury. In most countries such mutual mud
throwing would have led inevitably to a special libel action,
and this would certainly seem to be the proper means of reha-
bilitation. But in Croatia charges of bribery are more frequent
than in Britain, and the law does not visit them with the same
severity. Baron Chlumecky for his part has also seen fit to
ignore all the grave charges brought against him both in court
and in the public press.^^
The historian of the trial is unhappily confronted by certain
questions which force him to deal with the credibility of these
repulsive details. In the first place, how did it happen that
Baron Chlumecky was allowed to give evidence^at all at so early
a stage of the trial ? The point at issue, so far as Mr. Supilo
was concerned, was whether or no he had been bribed by
Servia in the years 1907-8 ; the fact — assuming it to be cor-
rect — that he had been bribed by Austria ten years previously,
was therefore quite irrelevant even as presumptive proof.
*22 The well-known Croatian novelist, Lisicar, published a signed article
in Pokret — December 13, 1909 — the organ of the Progressive party in
Croatia, in which he brought terrible personal charges against Baron
Chlumecky. I naturally have no intention of reproducing them, but I
wish the reader to realize that they are of such a nature that no punish-
ment could be too severe for their author, if he should fail to prove his
case. {See Agramer Tagblatt, December 14, 1909.)
II. Mr. Supilo in his open letter to his electors — Lettre de Frano
Supilo a ses electeurs, French translation, Fiume 1910, p. 33 — charges
Baron Chlumecky with having received a present {mandoletta) of
30,000 crowns for recommending to his father a group of Dalmatian con-
tractors for the construction of the railway between Gravosa and Castel-
nuovo, and adds that Mr. Antonio Meneghello, a member of the firm in
question, and other witnesses, are prepared to testify to this effect.
The responsibility for this charge must rest with Mr. Supilo.
296
A DEEP-LAID INTRIGUE
When once the authenticity of the documents had been estab-
lished, such a fact might no doubt fairly be adduced as yet
another proof of Mr. Supilo's bad character ; but to give it
this strange precedence was equivalent to an open pronounce-
ment in favour of the defence. No one who has studied with
any attention the policy inaugurated by Count Aehrenthal,
Dr. Wekerle and Baron Ranch in the south of the Monarchy,
and the methods by which that policy was furthered alike
in Vienna and in Agram, can fail to realize that the sum-
mons of Baron Chlumecky as a witness was a carefully precon-
certed move, in which the defendants were but the innocent
dupes of sinning diplomats. As editor of the Oesterreichische
Rundschau, Chlumecky was one of the most effective supporters
of Aehrenthal's whole policy and had openly espoused the
cause of the Coalition's deadliest enemies, the party of Dr.
Joseph Frank, in whose organ the first public charges of
bribery had been made against Mr. Supilo. During his three
years as a " political " official in Dalmatia, he had learnt
the methods of espionage and denunciation encouraged by
the Ballplatz upon the southern frontier ; and hence his evi-
dence accorded with the best traditions of the Police State of
Metternich. The mise-en-scine was admirable ; the guilty
wirepullers were as yet discreetly veiled from the public gaze.
It was calculated that the plaintiffs would lose their nerve in
face of Baron Chlumecky's disconcerting coup de theatre,
backed by the marked hostility of the Court and the jury and
by Ranch's renewed activity in Agram : that the inspired
chorus of abuse in the Viennese press would complete their
discomfiture : and that dissensions within the Coalition would
lead to a collapse of the prosecution.^^^ Count Aehrenthal's
natural wish to prevent the triumph of his victims, and
the fear lest the exposure of his methods might lose him the
confidence of the Emperor and the Heir Apparent and 'discredit
him in the eyes of Europe, supply an ample explanation for
these intrigues.
If we regard the incident from its psychological side we
must endeavour to banish from our minds the actual course
of events, and assuming for the moment Mr. Supilo's guilt,
*^' The Neue Freie Presse, on Sunday morning, gave prominence to the
idle rumour that Count Pejacevic, General Tomicic and Dr. von Nikolic,
three of the most distinguished members of the Coalition, had left its
ranks. It at once added a dementi of the rumour ! The origin of this
ballon d'essai is pretty obvious.
297
THE SUPILO-CHLUMECKY INCIDENT
we must ask ourselves how he might reasonably be expected
to act under such damning circumstances. Trained in a
rough school where political calumny was an almost daily
occurrence, combining the caution of the peasant with the
suspicion inherent in every Ragusan, Mr. Supilo had been
taught by bitter necessity the lessons of perseverance and self-
reliance. Sheer force of character had won him the position
of the most influential, and at the same time the most " dan-
gerous " Croat politician ; and his success inevitably earned
him the enmity of influential quarters. If there was one man
in all the Slavonic South whom it was difficult to find napping,
that man was Mr. Supilo. For a whole week beforehand he
had known that Baron Chlumecky was to be one of the fore-
most witnesses against him, and he therefore had a whole week
to prepare his line of action. If guilty, he must have known
only too well what Chlumecky was coming to say, and under
such circumstances only a lunatic could have been taken by
surprise. For a guilty man who was not prepared to confess
his guilt, only two courses were possible. On the one hand
he might forestall the coming disclosure by a personal state-
ment — to the effect that, while he had never accepted money
from abroad, he had early in his career under the stress of
great poverty accepted small loans from various political
friends in Ragusa, and among others a sum of £8 from Baron
Chlumecky : that this sum was in the nature of an acknow-
ledgment of former work from an acquaintance with whose
political opinions he fully agreed. If entirely unscrupulous,
he might even have safely asserted that the money had been
repaid long ago. Such an admission might have been galling
to a man who had since come to play so important a part in
Southern Slav politics, but at least it could not be regarded
as in any way dishonourable or as having even the remotest
bearing upon the present trial.
On the other hand, he might boldly await Baron Chlumecky 's
appearance as a witness and thunder him down in righteous
indignation, or even, in true Southern Slav fashion, threaten
him with personal violence. Such a part, if skilfully played,
might have thrown dust in the eyes of the court and nullified
the effect of Chlumecky 's evidence. And what do we actually
see ? The most ruse of Southern Slav politicians, the only
man of whom " Vienna " is really afraid, stands before his
accuser in mute astonishment, helpless as a child. His whole
behaviour was that of a man staggered by an incredible charge,
not of a man overwhelmed with guilt.
298
THE PSYCHOLOGICAL SIDE
The whole problem is one of extreme delicacy ; for the
charge of bribery is based upon an incident at which no third
party was present, and hence it is a question of one man's
word against another's. Thus despite ourselves we are driven
back upon two indirect forms of evidence — the sworn state-
ments of the two men, and their character and reputation
in public and private life. Unlike the judge, who did not seem to
regard bribery as a dishonourable occupation,?we must inevit-
ably start from the axiom that the trade of a briber is at least
as disreputable as that of an accepter of bribes. So far as
the actual incident of the 200 crowns is concerned, Chlumecky's
positive assertion is met by Supilo's equally positive denial,
and there is no external proof in one direction or the other.
But if we consider the statements of the two men in court we
find that Chlumecky, whose hostile attitude to Supilo, to the
Coalition and to Dalmatia w^as notorious, deliberately sup-
pressed a vital phrase in a letter which he cited as compro-
mising Supilo, and that he was proved to be in error on more
than one point of fact ; while every assertion of Supilo was
subsequently borne out by those to whom he appealed. Des-
pite countless libels and the violence of local party strife, I
am not aware that any one has thrown a stone at Supilo's
private character ; while numerous charges of the gravest
nature have been publicly made against Chlumecky, charges
which may be absolutely without foundation but which he
has taken no steps to disprove. Thus there is not the slightest
reason why the impartial observer should regard the latter's
word as more reliable than the former's. Baron Chlumecky
may in the course of time have succeeded in convincing him-
self that he actually gave money to Supilo ; similar delusions
are by no means rare, and it is a more charitable supposition
than the sole alternative. JVIeanwhile it is a remarkable fact
that the very men who know Supilo most intimately and are
best qualified to judge, are most firmly convinced of his inno-
cence. And here I do not merely refer to the evidence of
Professor Masaryk and Father Zagorac but to the opinion
of his Dalmatian friends.^^* It is at least significant that Dr.
Baernreither, the preux chevalier of German-Austrian politi-
*2* All the best men in Dalmatia — e.g., Dr. Cingrija, the well-known
Mayor of Ragusa, Dr. Trumbic, the ex-Mayor of Spalato, Dr. Smodlaka,
the leader of the Democratic Party, the poets Mr. Tresic and Count
Vojnovic, Father Biankini, the deputy, and Monsignor Bulic, the arch-
aeologist — are firmly convinced of his innocence.
299
THE SUPILO-CHLUMECKY INCIDENT
cians, publicly shook hands with Mr, Supilo at the close of the
trial.
It may be regretted that Mr. Supilo did not follow up the
Fried] ung Trial by a libel action against Baron Chlumecky ;
but unhappily his treatment in court had not encouraged him
to appear once more before a Viennese tribunal. For him it
was sufficient that public opinion throughout the Southern
Slav world was practically unanimous in acquitting him. If
I do not re-echo the gallant words of Professor Masaryk in
the Austrian Parliament — " For Supilo I would lay both
hands in the fire " — it [is only because as a foreigner I do not
feel called upon to express so outspoken an opinion.^
The whole incident is repulsive in the extreme, and I would
gladly have avoided it, were not such important issues in-
volved. The deliberate aim of Supilo's enemies has been to rid
themselves of the ablest, most farsighted and most dangerous
champion of Southern Slav unity and progress ; and it was
therefore inevitable that any account of the Fried j ung Trial
should treat fully of the Supilo-Chlumecky incident. That they
should have raked up a story which even if true would have
been discreditable but entirely irrelevant to the question at
issue in the trial, shows that they were at their wits' end to
find any evidence such as would supplement the forgeries.
The plot has failed ; and the time will come; once more for
Mr. Supilo to play a decisive part in Southern Slav politics.
But the supine incapacity which the Croato-Serb Coalition
has displayed ever since intrigue robbed it of its natural leader,
is an eloquent proof that the wirepullers of the Friedjung Trial
were right in concentrating their efforts against Mr. Supilo.
Note on the Origin of the Charges against Mr. Supilo.
In August and September, 1905, the chief organ of the Frank Party,
Hrvatsko Pravo, published a series of articles under the pseudonym of
" Argus." These contain the germ of the subsequent charges of trea-
son directed against Mr. Supilo, who had become obnoxious to the
Frank party owing to his advocacy of Croato-Serb friendship. Supilo
brought an action in Agram against the paper, and Dr. Joseph Frank
was obliged to admit in court that he had no proof of the allegations.
The Christian Socialist organ, Reichspost, reproduced them from
Hrvatsko Pravo, but Mr. Supilo, having won his action in Agram,
ignored the Viennese organ, perhaps unwisely.
In April, 1905, when rumours of war between Servia and Bulgaria
were in the air, Supilo paid a brief visit to Belgrad. Here he met a
Hungarian official. Dr. E H , whom he had known in Fiume.
The latter drew his attention to the comments of Budapesti Hirlap
300
ORIGIN OF THE CHARGES
on a recent article of Supilo advocating a Magyar-Croat entente. At
H 's urgent suggestion, Supilo agreed to write an answer, said
that it would appear about a fortnight later in his own paper Novi List,
and sketched out the lines of argument which it would follow. Through
the medium of H , Supilo obtained an audience with Pa§ic the
Servian Premier, but failed to " draw " him as he had hoped. On
his return home he duly wrote the promised article, and thought no
more of the incident until it was recalled to him in the following manner.
In July, 1907, a prominent Croatian politician of the older genera-
tion was invited by telephone to visit one of the former leaders of the
Magyarone party in Croatia. (My informant did not bind me to
secrecy ; indeed his omission to do so was rather marked. But I prefer
to mention no names, in view of the position of the two men in question.)
The latter then produced a document proving treasonable acts on the
part of Supilo. He had pledged himself not to show it, but read aloud
certain portions, suppressing the names of the writer and the addressee,
and holding his fingers over what was evidently the stamp of a Govern-
ment office in the upper corner. The document described Supilo's
visit to Belgrad, his interview and treasonable discussions with PaSic,
and then gave the gist of an article which was shortly to appear in
the Novi List. He then produced a copy of Novi List of the period in
question, and pointed to a certain article, which the visitor, to his
consternation, found to be almost identical with that which was pro-
phesied in the mysterious document. His informant then begged him
to admit that the matter was not quite clean, and to take no further
action in favour of Supilo. The visitor, however, drew a different
conclusion from the incident, and the reader may be left to do the
same. The names would of course give added point to the story.
Three Anecdotes.
The political phantasy of the Serb has no bounds ; lack of balance
and proportion is combined with inordinate belief in his own destiny,
and a corresponding disinclination to work it out for himself. Let
me give three illustrations of this from my own experience.
(i) In the spring of 1908 I was talking in Belgrad to a Servian
who held a minor diplomatic post. We discussed the short-lived
entente between Magyars and Serbs two years previously. My acquain-
tance lamented over the folly of the Magyars in ruining so promising
an alliance ; and when I asked him what he had hoped to achieve,
he assured me with enthusiasm, " By this time, my dear sir, we should
have had a million bayonets (sic !) mobilized against Vienna." After
all, this state of mind does not differ essentially from that of the well-
known Servian newspaper Politika, which on October 27, 1908, after
the annexation of Bosnia, wrote, " Now or never is the moment for
trying conclusions with a mediaeval state on the point of the dissolu-
tion." The Serbs foolishly imagined that Austria-Hungary was about
to break up, and it was only the Bosnian crisis which taught them
the bitter lesson that the Monarchy is far stronger than ever before.
(2) Among the Serb politicians of Bosnia I found the belief wide-
spread that the Army, the administration and the judicial system of
Servia are all greatly superior to those of Austria ! In my opinion
this truly comic belief deprives its holders of all claim to be regarded
301
THE SUPILO-CHLUMECKY INCIDENT
as serious politicians. In their fanaticism, some even went so far as
to defend, not merely the murder of Alexander and Draga — for which
some kind of a case can be made out — but actually the manner in
which it was committed !
(3) A prominent Montenegrin politician, with whom I had a conversa-
tion in April, 1909, defined the future relations of the two Serb states
to Austria-Hungary in the emphatic phrase " aut-aut " (either-or).
Either, he held, the Monarchy must fall in pieces, or Servia and Mon-
tenegro must lose their independence. In that case, I felt inclined
to reply, " The Serb states must make their will."
The idea that they are quite able to cope with Austria-Hungary
is widespread in the Northern Balkans, and is of course largely due to
the weak policy of Vienna during the long interval between Count
Andrassy's resignation and Baron Aehrenthal's accession to power.
302
CHAPTER XII
The Vasic Forgeries and Count Aehrenthal
— A Criticism and an Inquiry
"It is the duty of History, not only to crown with glory him to
whom glory is due, but also when it is necessary, to use the branding
iron."
Baron Alfred Berger, Buck der Heimat, I, p. 66.
THE issue of the Fried] ung Trial vindicated the Croato-
Serb CoaHtion from the slanders of its enemies and
gravely compromised the Austro-Hungarian Foreign Office in
the eyes of Europe. It also completed the discredit into
which Baron Ranch's regime had fallen and rendered his
position well-nigh untenable. His fall was still further
hastened by events in Hungary.
The collapse of the Hungarian Coalition in the autumn of
1909 had led to the final resignation of the Wekerle Cabinet
shortly before Christmas, after it had lingered for many months
in statu demissionis. Dr. Lukacs having failed to form a
cabinet, the King on January 19, 1910, appointed Count
Khuen-Hedervary as Hungarian Premier. Not the least of
his qualifications in the eyes of his admirers were his intimate
knowledge of Croatian affairs and the extreme awe in which
his name was held throughout the Triune Kingdom ; nor
indeed did he lose any time in justifying his reputation. The
charges brought forward by Baron Chlumecky had forced Mr.
Supilo to withdraw from the Croato-Serb Coalition, and although
his colleagues rallied round him most gallantly and showed
their firm belief in his personal honour, the partnership was
thus dissolved at a highly critical moment. The Coalition,
once deprived of its natural leader, showed a strange lethargy
and indecision, of which Count Khuen-Hedervary made full
use. The men who filled Supilo 's place had lost their nerve
during the trial, and but for Professor Masaryk's insistence,
303
THE VASIC FORGERIES
might have been beguiled into dangerous concessions. When
after the trial Viennese statesmen were prepared to treat
with them for a remedy of their just grievances, they had
preferred a night at the theatre to a conference with the most
influential German politician in Austria ; and " Vienna " had
drawn the natural conclusion that they were impossible allies.
Now, like a flock of frightened sheep, they allowed Count
Khuen to dictate his own terms for the " pacification " of
Croatia. In their anxiety to be rid of the obnoxious person
of Baron Ranch, they forgot that the new Premier would
under no circumstances retain as Ban a man with whom his
personal relations were so strained. Hence in the " compact "
which they concluded on January 25, they bartered away
most of the principles for which they had fought, in return
for their enemy's head upon a charger. Ranch's successor
as Ban was Dr. Nicholas Tomasi(5, for many years Count
Khuen's trusted lieutenant in Croatia and by far the ablest
exponent of the Union with Hungary. During his retirement
from public life since the collapse of the " National " Party,
Dr. Tomasi6 had written a very brilliant monograph on the
early constitution of Croatia, and its publication in the autumn
of 1909 had done much to dispel his former unpopularity.
Croatia gained nothing save a change of Ban ; instead of
one who had proved his glaring incapacity to coerce the country,
it now had a past master in the art of political diplomacy.
The Ranch regime had become an European scandal ; in
coming to terms with Tomasi<^, the Coalition renounced what-
ever advantage this fact conferred, and reduced the Croatian
question once more to the same level of provincial interest
as the question of an Italian University in Trieste or the griev-
ances of Ruthene peasants in Galicia. The new Government,
it is true, admitted in theory that Mr. Kossuth's Railway Bill
had infringed the Compromise, but the date at which this
illegality was to be removed was left absolutely vague.
In adopting a compliant attitude so different from its former
bold vindication of Croatian rights, the Coalition was influenced
by two important considerations, quite distinct from fear
and sloth. Baron Ranch had during his two years of office
devoted a strict attention to the electoral rolls, and had
succeeded in reducing the number of voters from 49,000 to
little over 40,000. The independent voters were thus in a
decisive minority ; and it was feared that the exercise of
governmental pressure upon the officials who now formed the
304
DR. TOMASIC AS BAN
bulk of the electorate, might enable the Ban, in the event of
new elections, to annihilate the Coalition and restore the old
Mameluke system of the Khuen era. Meanwhile the Frank
party had definitely offered itself as a candidate for office,
and set itself to underbid the Coalition at Budapest ; its
object of course being to secure control of electoral reform
and to enforce it in a manner unfavourable to the Serbs.^^
It is scarcely credible that Count Khuen ever seriously thought
of accepting the alliance of a party whose programme does
not recognize the Hungarian connexion ; and Mr. Supilo had
good grounds for holding that the nation was ready to support
a brave and determined opposition and could defy and defeat
the old method of a " packed " Diet. Yet the bogey of Dr.
Frank at the head of affairs in Agram, was sufficient to unnerve
the national resistance ; and the bitter press feud between
the Coalition and Supilo, which resulted from his criticisms of
the " pact," still further confused the situation.
It is not my purpose to express any definite opinion
upon the present Ban and his political methods. I merely
wish to lay before the reader in brief outline the events of the
past year in Croatia, and then to pass on to the next act in
the drama of forgery which characterized Count Aehrenthal's
Southern Slav policy.
On February 7, 1910, Dr. Tomasic's appointment as Ban
of Croatia was officially announced. In accordance with the
pact, the so-called " mummies " of the old National Party
were admitted to membership in the Coalition, and were
adopted as Coalition candidates for the vacant mandates to
the Diet. On March 18 the Diet met once more, after the
Constitution had been entirely suspended for 25 months ;
but this time the majority showed an unwonted docility.
The Budget indemnity was meekly passed at the Ban's request,
and the proceedings were merely formal, until the new Fran-
chise Bill was laid before the Sabor on May 4. Even then
its discussion was entirely perfunctory, though the deputies
425 " You drove us into the pact," cried Svetozar Pribicevic, the
Serb Independent leader, to the members of the Party of Pure Right,
during a sitting of the Sabor in the Spring of 1910. How different
was his attitude in June 1907, when Dr. Wekerle said to Professor
Surmin, " If you won't cease your resistance, I will take the man who
will accept our standpoint — Dr. Joseph Frank " (see Surmin's speech
in Sabor, April 20, 1910). The Croats did not cease their resistance,
and Dr. Wekerle did not " take " Dr. Frank.
S.S.Q. 305 X
THE VASIC FORGERIES
were fully alive to its inadequacy and shortcomings. The
only criticism came from the Frank Party, which opposed it
as being too favourable to the Serbs. By the third week of
May the reform had been hurried through, and on the 24th
the Sabor was prorogued. The new reform bears the character
of an obvious stopgap. The Hungarian Government had
vetoed the introduction of Universal Suffrage, ostensibly on
the ground that Croatia must not anticipate the march of
events in the sister state. The old faulty distribution of
seats was retained ; schoolmasters were made ineligible for
the Diet ; and the solitary improvement was the reduction
of the property qualification, with the result that the franchise
was enjoyed by over 250,000 individuals, instead of less than
50,000 as hitherto.
When this bill had received the royal sanction, the Coalition
fancied itself to be secure, and showed some inclination to
hold Dr. Tomasic to his promises. But here again the personal
equation took precedence of national claims. A serious
dispute arose between Ban and Coalition, because the former
declined to dismiss Mr. Aranicky from the department of
Justice. On July 18 Dr. Tomasic resigned, but his resigna-
tion was not accepted by the sovereign ; and henceforth the
Ban played with his opponents, avoiding the tactical errors
of his predecessor, but adopting a less conciliatory attitude
than he had shown on his accession to power.^^ Moving
cautiously in a valley of dead bones, he regarded it as his
mission to undermine the unity of the Coalition, and to restore
the old discord upon which Magyar rule in Croatia was based.
To him Croatia's sole hope for the future depends upon the
connexion with Hungary, and towards the maintenance of
that connexion in its present form his efforts are honestly if
mistakenly directed: On August 22 the Sabor was dissolved,
and the new elections, which took place in the last week of
October, led to a situation which has condemned Croatia to poli-
tical stagnation ever since. Dr. Tomasic succeeded in de-
taching the so-called " Slavonian Group " from the Coalition
and secured the election of 17 supporters ; while the Coalition
lost its absolute majority, being reduced from 53 to 35. The
rival factions of the Party of Right divided 24 seats between
*26 In this he was encouraged by the astonishing victory of his friend
and master Count Khuen at the elections of June, 1910, a victory
due to corruption on a scale hitherto unequalled. (See my Corruption
and Reform in Hungary.)
306
A STRANGE SEQUEL TO THE AGRAM TRIAL
them, 15 falling to Dr. Frank, 9 to Dr. Starcevic. The Peasants'
Party, hitherto represented by three members, trebled the
number of its seats. Mr. Supilo remained outside the parties,
while the Socialists lost their only seat, and a German National-
ist was elected in Syrmia. Thus no party obtained a workable
majority, and a majority friendly to the Compromise with
Hungary seems definitely unattainable. Dr. Tomasic, while
careful not to dispense absolutely with constitutional forms,
has governed, so to speak, from hand to mouth, by conferences
and prorogations. Croatian politics beat time, and wait
uneasily for the march of events in Hungary and Austria.
One of the earliest acts of the Tomasic Government had
been to secure a revision of the High Treason trial. On
April 2, 1910, the Septemviral Table (the Croatian Court of
Appeal) quashed the verdict of Mr. Tarabocchia and his col-
leagues, on the remarkable ground that the facts adduced in
the Public Prosecutor's indictment do not prove the alleged
high treason and that the case against the prisoners had not
been sufficiently elucidated. Yet it seems quite incredible
that after a trial lasting seven months there could be any real
doubt upon the matter : either the guilt or the innocence of
the prisoners had been clearly established.
On April 30 a strange incident of the trial was brought to
light in the Croatian Diet. Dr. Mile Starcevic laid before
the House the manuscript notes of an article dealing with the
history of the Serbs in Croatia, in the handwriting of a promi-
nent member of the Frank party. These notes, it was alleged,
had been specially written for the use of the Public Prosecutor,
Mr. Accurti, and it was thus sought to establish a direct influ-
ence of the Frank party on the course of the trial of its political
enemies. A comparison of the notes with the actual text of
the indictment was found to lend colour to the charge, for
certain portions would appear to have been copied by Accurti
almost word for word. Their author did not deny their
authenticity, but argued that they merely contained the
answers to specific questions of a historic nature addressed
to him as an authority on Croatian history. On the other
hand no indication was given as to the means by which these
stolen goods fell into the hands of their present possessor.
307
THE VASIC FORGERIES
The incident, while by no means as discreditable as Dr. Star-
cevic maintained, simply proved what was already notorious,
that the Public Prosecutor framed his indictment in accordance
with the tenets of an extremist party, and accepted his history
ready-made, without in any way troubling to investigate for
himself.
Throughout the summer of 1910 the questions raised in
the Agram and Vienna trials remained in abeyance. But in
the autumn new developments occurred, which raised the
controversy once more in a highly dramatic form.
It will already have struck the English reader as remarkable
that Count Aehrenthal should not have been immediately
called to account in Parliament for the grave scandals revealed
in the Fried] ung trial. That he was able to evade parliamen-
tary criticism for ten whole months after the trial, was due
solely to the peculiarities of the Dual System in Austria-
Hungary. The Delegations, which are alone competent to
discuss matters affecting foreign policy, are two entirely
distinct bodies, recruited from the Austrian and from the
Hungarian Parliament. While the Austrian delegation had
been elected in the ordinary way, the Hungarian Government,
being without a majority or even a party in the Hungarian
Parliament, was unable to procure the election of a Hungarian
Delegation. Thus it was not till after Count Khuen-Heder-
vary's great victory at the polls in June 1910, that the neces-
sary election of delegates could take place : and it was then
already too late for a summer session, owing to the pressure
of parliamentary business. When the Delegations did at
length meet on November 8, 1910, the Premier and the Ban
by a skilful manoeuvre contrived to eliminate the Croats
from the Hungarian Delegation ^^' and thus saved Count
Aehrenthal from the criticism of the men whom he had wronged.
But although the Croats were thus reduced to silence, the
Austrian delegation contained their most formidable champion
in the person of Professor Masaryk, who had since the Fried-
jung trial devoted a great deal of time to careful investigation
of the forgeries and their origin.
In the autumn Mr. Supilo had received a letter from a certain
*-' They selected three excellent but colourless Croat deputies, without
even consulting the forty Croat members in Budapest, from among
whom the selection had to be made : then when the three indignantly
laid down their mandates, three Magyar substitutes were declared
elected to the vacant places !
308
PROFESSOR MASARYK'S CHARGES
Vasic in Belgrad, declaring himself to be identical with the
mysterious Milan Stefanovic (see p. 246) and asserting that
the forgeries were fabricated in the Belgrad Legation with
Count Forgach's knowledge, and that one copy of the photo-
graphs that were made there, was sent to Count Aehrenthal
and a second to the Archduke Francis Ferdinand. The
originals, he added, were now in Servian hands, and the material
against the Legation was overwhelming. Mr. Supilo at once
communicated with Professor Masaryk, who then paid visits
to Agram and Belgrad to investigate the matter. It
was the outcome of these inquiries that finally decided him
to raise the whole question of the forgeries at the Delega-
tion.^8
In his speech on November 8, Professor Masaryk addressed
two direct questions to Count Aehrenthal. How was it
possible that the forgeries were not recognized as such by the
Austro-Hungarian Legation in Belgrad, by the Foreign Office
in Vienna, and by the Ministry of War which based its plans
upon them ? And did Count ehrenthal and his press bureau
know the contents of Dr. Fried] ung's article before it appeared,
and even prompt its publication ? It was no mere case of a
duped Minister, he continued ; " the forgeries proceed from
the Austro-Hungarian Legation in Belgrad." Mr. von Svien-
tochovski, secr'etary of that legation, engaged in February,
1909, a young journalist named Vladimir Vasic to teach his
children Servian. Soon afterwards a number of documents
purporting to be " minutes " of the Slovenski Jug were
placed before him, and he was entrusted with the task of
removing the " Croaticisms " with which they were replete.
Finally in November, 1909, on the eve of the Fried] ung Trial,
he had to copy them out in the name of the mysterious " Milan
Stefanovic." ^^^ The work was done in Svientochovski's study
and in the house of another member of the legation. Vasic
himself retained some of these " documents " in his own hands,
and though pressed to return them, evaded doing so. Count
Forgach, who knew of the work, had promised Vasic a career
*2^ The reader will find an admirable siunmary of events relating to
the Vcisic forgeries in the telegrams of The Times correspondent in
Vienna. (See Times of November g, 10, 11, 14, 17, ig, December 7,
8, 23, 24, 30, 31, igio.) I take this opportunity of drawing attention
to the important part which he has played in elucidating the truth
on matters of Austrian and Hungarian politics.
*-* See p. 246.
309
THE VASIC FORGERIES
in Vienna, and in April, 1910, he was at last enticed as far as
Agram, where he lived some weeks in the house of an Austrian
officer called Captain Cvitas. Finally he took alarm and fled
back to Belgrad, still without having disgorged the documents.
It would be the simplest thing in the world, added Professor
Masaryk, to prove the truth of these assertions. " Count
Aehrenthal only has to lay the forgeries before the House.
I have here some of these false minutes, which he was to have
got, but did not get. Let us compare the handwriting, and
instantly the matter is cleared up." After stating that he
had been refused access to the " documents " and photographs
which had figured in the Fried] ung trial, he concluded with
the following words : " After this accusation of mine Count
Aehrenthal can only state that neither he himself nor any
of his officials in the Foreign Office knew of or assisted these
machinations of Count ' Azev ' ^^^ in Belgrad."
Count Aehrenthal allowed twenty-four hours to elapse
before he replied, and then carefully avoided a direct answer,
fter calmly affirming that the documents which formed the
basis of Dr. Fried] ung's article had had " no influence what-
ever " upon his decisions " either before or after the annexa-
tion," he repudiated the aspersions upon Count Forgach,
" one of the most estimable of our diplomats," and tried to
discredit Professor Masaryk's sources of information on the
ground that they were foreign. " If Count Forgach had really
done all that is imputed to him, he would not en]oy in serious
leading circles in Belgrade his present excellent position," nor
would the Servian Government, when rumours of his trans-
ference to another post arose, have expressed the wish that he
should remain, as " a friend of Servia " (November 9).
Needless to say, these vague phrases satisfied no one, and
the Young Czech leader. Dr. Kramarz, was voicing the opinion
of many even among his political opponents, when next day
he summoned Count Aehrenthal to publish the facts regarding
the forgeries. The vigorous criticism of the whole annexation
policy with which he accompanied this summons does not
concern us here. On November 11 Professor Masaryk returned
to the charge, and after rebutting the personalities in which
Count Aehrenthal had indulged two days earlier, declared
*^° A reference to the infamous Russian agent-pvovocateur and spy
who played a leading part in the counsels of the revolutionaries, but
was at last detected and made away with.
310
1
COUNT AEHRENTHAL'S EVASION
with renewed emphasis, " that Count Forgach knew of the
forging of the documents." Count Aehrenthal, in reply,
referred to the charge against Forgach as " insinuations of a
general nature " {sic !), and treated the whole matter as an
intrigue of foreign journals against Austro-Hungarian diplo-
macy and as an attempt to disturb the relations of the Monarchy
with Servia. To this Professor Masaryk rejoined, amid a
scene of great tension, " Count Aehrenthal dares not and
cannot say that his officials had no relations with Vasic, he
cannot deny that Count Forgach knew of these forgeries. . . .
I ask His Excellency to say in so many words : Had Count
Forgach relations with this individual Vasic ? Is Count
Aehrenthal aware that Count Forgach knew of these forgeries
and wittingly had relations with their forger ? In other
words. Count Forgach is the forger. I await an answer."
To the general astonishment Count Aehrenthal remained
seated, and the President of the Delegation announced that, as
no one else desired to speak, he would put the Foreign Estimates
to the vote. At the last moment an official of the Foreign
Office whispered something to his chief, and it was only then
that Count Aehrenthal rose in great excitement and made
the following brief statement : — " In answer to the direct
question addressed to me by Professor Masaryk, I have to
declare that Count Forgach has never had dealings with this
man " {mit diesem Manne nie in Verkehr gestanden ist). As
his opponent took care to point out on a later occasion, this
was not an answer to the question asked. That Count For-
gach was on terms of personal friendship with an individual
like Vasic, no sane person would maintain : that under given
circumstances an ambassador may have to meet a spy or a
forger, is not necessarily discreditable. But that an embassy
should deal in forged documents on a large scale, in a matter
which might involve Europe in war, is a crime for which no
adequate words of condemnation can be found ; and that a
Foreign Minister should meet such a charge with evasion and
silence, is suspicious in the highest degree.
On November 15 the Servian Foreign Minister, Dr. Milo-
vanovid, answered an interpellation in the Skupstina, regard-
ing Aehrenthal's statement that Servia had wished to retain
Forgach in Belgrad. His statement put a new complexion
on the matter : all that had happened was that Servia had
formally dissociated itself from a campaign against Forgdch
which was then raging in the Servian press, and had denied
311
THE VASIC FORGERIES
that it was dissatisfied with the Minister. Meanwhile Vasic
himself had surrendered himself to the police in Belgrad and
confessed his share in the forgeries : pending trial, he was
kept in prison, and absolute reticence was shown by those
entrusted with his examination. Towards the end of Novem-
ber Count Forgach gave direct official assurances to the Servian
Government, that neither he nor Count Aehrenthal had had
any connexion with Vasic or his forgeries. On December 6
a skilfully worded communique appeared in Samouprava,
the Servian official gazette, stating that Servia " must attach
credence to these assurances, so long as no facts arise to change
the standpoint of one or other of the two Governments."
To this communique and to further details published by
Masaryk in the Zeit (December 4), Aehrenthal published a
rejoinder in the official Fremdenblatt (December 6) which
contains the first definite admission of relations between Vasic
and the Belgrad Legation. " It must be clear to every one,"
it says, " that he (Vasic) belongs to a category of individuals
which ... in critical times presses its information on diplo-
matic agents. His statements were received by a subordinate
clerk of the Legation in Belgrad, until their worthlessness
became apparent. If the article of the Samouprava neglects
to mention the assurances which the Servian Government
gave to Count Forgach — to the effect that authoritative circles in
Belgrad never gave the slightest credence to the absurd slanders
of a Vasic, according to which Count Forgach or one of his
subordinates committed forgery or had forgeries prepared —
we fill in this gap in the Belgrad statements all the more readily,
because we are convinced that we are thus complying with
the Servian Government's intention to maintain friendly
relations." Three days later Dr. Milovanovic repudiated this
version of the case ^^i ; and Count Aehrenthal, who eighteen
months before had dictated to the Servian Government the
most humiliating admissions, now saw himself constrained to
swallow this rebuff in silence, thus supplying a fresh presump-
tion in favour of Professor Masaryk's contention. His official
press sought to veil its discomfiture by attacks upon Masaryk ;
typical of its tactics was the publication ^of extracts from an
article against Masaryk in the Belgrad " Stampa " — an article
which had never appeared in that newspaper ! *^^
^=•1 Samouprava, December 9, 1910.
**^ Masaryk, Vasic-Forgdch- Aehrenthal, p. 31. It had presumably
been written in Vienna for publication in the Stampa, but for some
312
THE VASIC TRIAL
On December 22, 1910, the trial of Vasid opened at Belgrad.
By orders of the Government, it was conducted behind closed
doors, and the Belgrad press was not allowed to publish the
evidence, lest public opinion in Servia should be still further
inflamed against Austria-Hungary. But reporters of the
foreign press, and interested parties were admitted on special
application ; and among those who availed themselves of
this permission, were Professor Masaryk and Dr. Hinkovic,
who watched the case in the interests of the victims of the
Agram trial. Vasic was charged with treason and injury to
State interests, on the ground that " he helped to prepare
reports referring to an imaginary revolutionary activity of
the Slovenski Jug in Southern Slav territories outside the
Kingdom of Servia and a connexion of this club with the
Servian authorities, which reports were made over to the
Austro-Hungarian Legation and afterwards figured in the
well-known Fried] ung trial as proofs of Servia's dishonourable
attitude to the neighbouring Monarchy." After a two days'
trial Vasic was condemned to five years' imprisonment. The
main foundation for this verdict was the full confession of
Vasic himself. But while Count Aehrenthal and his supporters
were fully justified in treating Vasic's bare assertions as far
from reliable,*33 it is obvious that the fellow, when once in
court, had no inducement whatever to tell lies which would
compromise him still more deeply. The chief interest in his
confession lies in the fact that it proved possible to control
his statements on seventeen points of detail,*^* and in each
case he was found to have spoken the truth. A forged tele-
gram which Vasic produced and which he alleged to have been
written by the Austrian Secretary of Legation, Svientochovski,
was compared with the latter's handwriting and found to
correspond. A man living in the same house as Svientochovski
was able to confirm Vasic's assertion that he had been busy
working there in February, 1909, and had been alarmed by
the appearance of a police official on some errand in the house.
Above all, the houseowner confirmed the assertion that the
documents had been photographed against the study door :
reason refused by the editor at the last moment, before a reference
to it elsewhere could be suppressed.
*^* On the other hand, the bare assertions of Nastic were treated as
amply sufficient and Nastic had about as much right to the name
of "journalist" as the wretched Vasic.
*^* See Maaaryk, op. cit. pp. 35-9 (translation of the indictment).
3^5
THE VASIC FORGERIES
for he had himself seen small holes on the inside of the door,
such as are made by drawing pins. Vasic had further alleged
that Svientochovski supplied him with a key to the study
door, so that he could enter at any time during the owner's
absence, without attracting notice. The proprietor now
deposed that he had been requested by Svientochovski to add
a'second outer door at the very entrance to which the missing
key gave admission — presumably to prevent its possessor from
continuing to gain access. The Court in passing judgment
argued that various proofs quite independent of the prisoner's
confession established " his connexion with the organs of a
foreign Legation," though his accomplices could not be called
to account before the law.
If the matter of the forgeries had rested at this point, it
might have been possible to treat Professor Masaryk's charges
as not proven, and to give Count Aehrenthal the benefit of
the doubt, on the ground that the Belgrad Court acted under
pressure from a government which had an eminent interest
in throwing discredit upon Austro-Hungarian diplomatic
methods. At this stage, however, Count Aehrenthal com-
mitted a grave tactical error, of which Professor Masaryk
naturally took full advantage. An official communique
appeared in the Neue Freie Presse of December 24, admitting
the forged telegram produced at the Vasic Trial to be really
in Svientochovski's handwriting, but maintaining it to be a
mere copy of a document which Vasic had palmed off upon
him as genuine. ^^ This admission supplied the solitary link
*^5 Lest I shoiild be accused of putting a wrong interpretation upon
it I quote it in extenso.
"Vasic brought the alleged original documents of the Slovenski
Jug only on the condition that they must be returned to him soon,
so that their abstraction should not be noticed by the officials of the
Slovenski Jug. The result of this condition was that the Legation
Secretary (dragoman) copied the documents. Obviously Vasic suc-
ceeded in getting hold of one of these copies, which he has now used
before the Court. To speak of the share of a legation official in Vasic's
forgeries, will, as may be seen, hardly be possible. The simple and
easily transparent facts invalidate Vasic's assertions on this point.
" Meanwhile the Servian Government is aware that Vasic, even after
the Legation had broken off relations with him owing to the discovery
of the worthlessness of his assertions, made renewed offers to the Austro-
Hungarian Legation, but was this time refused and therefore threatened
revelations. Vasic then employed the same threats at our Belgrad
Consulate, in Semhn and in Agram, each time without result. It is
the excessive cunning of a half-educated person, who finally lost control
314
A FORGED TELEGRAM
which had been missing in the chain of evidence at the Vasic
trial. Hitherto it had been allowable to doubt whether the
experts had established the identity of Svientochovski's
writing : now this doubt was dispelled.
Even Count Aehrenthal's admirers could not fail to be
unfavourably impressed with his behaviour. When Professor
Masaryk first put forward his charges, the Minister had cate-
gorically denied all connexion between Vasic and the Legation.
On December 6 he admitted Vasic's relations with " a sub-
ordinate clerk " ; after the [Belgrad trial, the " clerk " became
a secretary of legation, who had actually copied with his own
hand all that Vasic brought him. How were such conflicting
statements to be reconciled on any other hypothesis than
that of a gradual surrender of an untenable position ?
On December 29 the duel between Aehrenthal and Masaryk
was renewed in the Austrian Delegation, when the latter
produced a photograph of the fatal telegram, showing
that it was not a " copy " at all, but an original forgery of
Svientochovski. It purported to be despatched from Loznica,
a small place on the Servian frontier, by the leader of an
irregular Serb " band " to Professor Markovig, the president
of the Slovenski Jug in Belgrad ; it stated that money had
been sent to Sarajevo, and made somewhat cryptic references
to frontier villages and the Bosnian garrison of Bjelina. If
genuine, it would naturally have established a strong pre-
sumption that Markovic had the supervision of guerilla
bands operating against Austria.
By producing this photograph, Masaryk annihilated Aehren-
thal's theory of a " copy " ; for this " copy " was written
in Cyxilline characters, on an official Servian telegram form,
and at the foot had been added an imitation of the official
postmark, purposely rendered half illegible ! ^^6 As Professor
Masaryk was able to point out, even the phraseology of this
brief telegram of thirty-four words betrays its author as a
foreigner : no Servian could conceivably have employed
phrases which at once suggest having been translated from
German into Serb, like most of theFriedjung " documents." *^^
" But the telegram form itself," says the inexorable Professor,
of his own plans and affairs, that has now led Vasic to destruction."
A very similar communique appeared on December 25 in Pester Lloyd.
*^6 See Appendix I (facsimile) of Masaryk's Vasic-Forgdch- Aehrenthal.
*" One phrase, " na " sigumo. Professor Masaryk claims as a" Polon-
ism," and Svientochovski is a Germanized Pole
315
THE VASIC FORGERIES
" also betrays the forger. The Servain Telegraph Office, like
all others, uses two kinds of form, one for handing in telegrams
(these the public can have gratis), and one on which telegrams
are written at the office and which are sent to the addressees.
The Loznica telegram, if Vasic had brought it from the Slo-
venski Jug, must have been a telegram handed in at Loznica
and received in Belgrad, but it is really written on a handing-in
form ! (Imagine our getting a telegram from the office on
one of our green forms !) Mr. Svientochovski very easily got
the forms laid out for the public, and on one of them he forged
the telegram which was supposed to have been officially
received and delivered. That Vasic could not have brought
to our Legation Secretary an official telegraph form from
Loznica, is obvious. Mr. Svientochovski simply reckoned
on the Servian telegraph forms being unknown in Vienna."
The telegraph form was in itself sufficiently damning evidence.
But Professor Masaryk, wishing to prove his charges up to
the very hilt, produced further " documents " from the forgers'
laboratory. The first of these was one of the notorious minutes
of the Slovenski Jug — a gigantic sheet of paper whose exact
dimensions were 977 by 34-6 centimetres ! ^^s That no society
in Europe, least of all a band of revolutionaries, would write
its minutes on paper of this size, is abundantly clear, and
effectively disposes of the argument that these " documents "
were brought by Vasic from the Slovenski Jug to the Legation.
Not even the veriest tyro in diplomacy would have accepted
such a document from the most plausible of spies or robbers.
Only one explanation is possible — that the size of these monster-
documents was chosen to facilitate photography : and here
again, without accepting the evidence of Vasic himself, we
are confirmed in the belief by the incident of the drawing pins,
which transpired at the Belgrad trial.
The next " document " produced by the Professor was the
notorious balance-sheet of the Slovenski Jug, which played
its part at the Friedjung trian^g ^nd seemed to convict Mr,
Supilo of having received 6,000 francs from Servia. Here
*** See Appendix II (life-size facsimile) in Masaryk's pamphlet;
already cited.
*^* Strictly speaking the Friedjung " document " in question was
the minutes of the Slovenski Jug in which the payment of the 6,000
francs was approved (see p. 217, see also Friedjung, Aktenstiicke, No.
II, pp. 9-10), while the " document " now Jproduced was the balance
sheet showing actual payment.
316
USQUE AD FINEM
again its absurd size*^ makes it quite impossible to believe
in its genuine character.
Finally Professor Masaryk produced a sheet of paper con-
taining three signatures of Davidovic, alleged to be a leading
member of the Slovenski Jug (see pp. 217, 261) and establish-
ing beyond the possibility of doubt that some person unknown
had been practising the imitation of Davidovic's signature.^*^
According to Vasic this person was Svientochovski, and even
if we refuse to accept the evidence of such a man, the circum-
stantial evidence is very strong.
Professor Masaryk concluded his speech before the Delega-
tion by a scathing comparison of Count Aehrenthal's methods
with those of Napoleon, Metternich and Bismarck, and declared
that as Count Aehrenthal had challenged him, he would carry
the matter usque ad fiiiem when the session was resumed in
January. He had not said all he knew nor the worst of what
he knew, and he would prove Count Aehrenthal's own com-
plicity. Count Aehrenthal contented himself with repeating
the denial that Count Forgach had ever had dealings with
Vasic, " who had forced himself upon the Legation and offered
documents for sale at a critical moment when no Legation
would have taken the responsibility of refusing to receive
them. As soon as their entire worthlessness had been recog-
nized — Count Aehrenthal did not say whether this was before
or after the Fried] ung trial — all further communications
with Vasic were broken off." *^ He tried to minimise the
effect of the Belgrad trial by arguing that the only information
about it came from the newspapers, and went so far as to
insinuate that Professor Masaryk's attendance at the trial
had been unpatriotic. ^^^ In short, he clung desperately to
the old tale, which no longer deceived any one. But anything
that he might say, or any further onslaught upon him, were
now of comparatively minor interest. By his rash communique
of December 24, he had himself exploded the idea that the
forgeries depended on Vasic's mere word ; and the production
of the forgeries in the Delegation and their publication in
pamphlet form in February, 1911, finally dispelled all doubt
**° See Masaryk, op. cit., Appendix. Ill (life-size facsimile).
**^ See facsimile on p. 60 of Masaryk, op. cit.
442 Times, December 30, 1910.
**^ Count Aehrenthal has always taken the hne that opposition to
his person is unpatriotic, just as his ally Baron Ranch argued that
demonstrations against his person were anti-dynastic (cf. p. 156).
317
THE VASIC FORGERIES
as to their real authorship^ The guilt of the Austro-Hungarian
Legation in Belgrad had been fully established, and the fact
that the incriminating " documents " had been stolen by
Vasic, does not really affect the question. Theft with a view
to blackmail, was an action such as might be expected from
such an individual ; though as Professor Masaryk caustically
remarks in his pamphlet, " compared with the forgers of the
Embassy, Vasic is a man of honour ! " ^* The real point in
this connexion is that Vasic could not have had an opportunity
of stealing such precious papers, unless he had reached a
considerable degree of intimacy with the Legation staff : and
an independent proof of this intimacy is actually supplied by
the incident of the study door key, authenticated by the house
proprietor's evidence at the Vasic trial.
Count Aehrenthal's attempt to invalidate all the evidence
of Vasic, is far from convincing. Two years ago, he and his
officials, according to his own version, accepted " documents "
en masse ^*^ from Vasic, knowing him to be a thief and a spy,
yet basing a whole policy upon the authenticity of what Vasic
brought ; but none the less he claims the right to rule out all
the evidence of Vasic, as soon as it becomes inconvenient.
Yet nothing has occurred to render Vasic's words either less
or more reliable. The statements of a thief and a spy are
already tainted ; confession of his crimes may not make him
worthier, but most certainly does not make him less worthy.
We have the right to reject Vasic's evidence as tainted : Count
Aehrenthal, whose tool he was, does not possess that right.
None the less, we have endeavoured to allow Count Aehren-
thal's contention, and have not accepted the statements of
Vasic except where they are confirmed by other evidence.
On these lines, it is still possible to regard it as not proven,
that Count Forgach had personal relations with Vasic, since
the sole definite proofs are the evidence of Vasic himself and
of a park-keeper in Belgrad. But that Count Forgach was
in ignorance of the tactics of his subordinates, that Vasic's
salary was paid out of Svientochovski's private purse and
«" Op. cit. p. 63.
445 Prof. Masaryk writes of 80 to 100 Slovenski Jug minutes, 20 to
30 secret " resolutions," 20 more minutes of the combined Slovenski
Jug and Bands Committee, 5 or 6 balance sheets and about 20
telegrams (see Masaryk, op. cit. p. 67). We need not accept this merely
on Vasic's word. Dr. Fried] ung laid great stress on the fact that his
" documents " were only quite a small selection.
318
THE BELGRAD LEGATION
not out of Embassy money, that the " documents " and photo-
graphs were sent wholesale to Vienna without Count Forgach's
knowledge and approval, and that he entertained no doubts
as to the genuine character even of " the three-foot minutes "
— all this is absolutely incredible. We need not accept,
unless we please, Vasic's story of his reception by Count For-
gach in the house of the Legation usher Tiefenbach : that
is quite immaterial. Even if he never set eyes upon Vasic,
Count Forgach cannot be acquitted of moral responsibility
for the forgeries.
Count Forgach's position in Belgrad had become really
pitiable. On all sides he was regarded with amused suspicion,
and most embassies in the little capital knew the inner history
of the forgeries, and were reporting it to their respective head-
quarters. But Count Forgach is not a man to submit tamely
to such treatment, and he apparently took no pains to conceal
his opinion that the moral responsibility for the whole affair
lay with Count Aehrenthal. Indeed he is said to have openly
declared that he had not carried out nearly all that had been
demanded of him. His growing resentment was soothed by
the title of a Privy Councillor, and at length, amid the inspired
eulogies of the Aehrenthal press, he was transferred to the
less frigid atmosphere of Dresden, where opportunities for
diplomatic forgery are scarcely likely to present themselves.
His successor is placed before the unpleasant alternative of
cleaning up the Augean stable at the Belgrad Legation, or
of continuing to act upon the principles of Bomba's Neapolitan
police.
If it is incredible that the members of the Belgrad Legation
should have supplied the Foreign Office with masses of docu-
ments, whether forged or genuine, without the knowledge of
their chief, then still more incredible is it that the Foreign
Office should have dealt with stolen articles on so large a scale,
without Count Aehrenthal's knowledge and approval. It is
glaringly obvious that unless the Belgrad Legation had acted
upon direct instructions from Vienna, Count Aehrenthal would
at once have disavowed not merely Svientochovski and Tiefen-
bach, but Forgach himself, and not content with a disavowal,
would have instituted the strictest possible inquiry into the
whole affair. Instead of this, Count Aehrenthal resorted to
prevarication and legal quibbles, answered dii'ect questions
by evasion and personal innuendos, and deliberately blocked
all inquiry. The jealous care with which the forgeries have
319
THE VASIC FORGERIES
always been guarded from the public eye, in itself suggests
most strongly that they cannot bear inspection. From the
very first Count Aehrenthal has done everything in his power
to suppress, not to further, the truth. Indeed from his attitude
throughout this sordid affair, only two conclusions can be
drawn. Either he has been deluded by the clumsiest of
methods, or he has not been deluded at all ; either he is naive
to the point of incapacity, or unscrupulous to an alarming
degree. The reader who has studied the evidence of the
preceding chapters, should have no difficulty in forming his
own opinion on this point.
It may be added, as a final comment on this aspect of the
case, that two prominent officials, one at the Ballplatz, one
in Bosnia, who received the " documents " with scepticism,
were placed on the retired list in a manner which caused the
general public no little surprise.
Dr. Fried] ung said of the informer Nastic, that decent people
can only touch him with the tongs. But Nastic and Vasic
have been proved to be mere tools ; and the patriotic efforts
of Professor Masaryk have fixed the responsibility in the
proper quarter. In seeking to hush up the scandal and shield
the real culprit, Austrian politicians are not acting in the true
interests of their country, but are merely saddling ustria
with the discredit which is really due to a single individual.
The man whose foreign policy was based upon the forgeries of
the Agram and Friedjung trials, has become an European
danger. Cordial diplomatic relations with Austria-Hungary
are impossible for any Power, so long as he remains at the
head of affairs ; for so long as such methods remain unpunished,
there is no guarantee that they will not be employed again,
perhaps against some other Power than Servia. So far as
Great Britain is concerned, it must be remembered that the
imaginary relations of Servia and Great Britain played an im-
portant part in the forged Report of Dr. Milovanovic.^^^ In
no other country could a Foreign Minister have survived for
twenty-four hours such revelations as those of the Friedjung trial,
still less the surgical demonstration of Professor Masaryk ;
and the fact that such a survival is possible for eighteen months
in Austria-Hungary, proves conclusively how inimical the
existing Dual System is to all parliamentary control of foreign
affairs.
**6 pp. 28-29 in Dr. Funder's dossier. See Appendix XIV.
320
DECEIVING THE DYNASTY
In this connexion it is no longer possible to ignore a further
aspect of the whole scandal, whose importance is only equalled
by its delicate nature. The forged documents upon which
Count Aehrenthal relied to justify his Balkan policy in the
eyes of Europe, had a still more sinister surpose. It was
necessary to win the approval of the Emperor and the Heir
Apparent ; and no better means could be devised for winning
it. The venerable Emperor's sincere devotion to the cause
of peace naturally rendered him reluctant to sanction anything
in the nature of aggression and adventure ; but if it could be
proved to him that disaffection and treachery were rife among
large sections of his subjects, then he might be induced to
consent to the adoption of drastic measures. Not a shadow
of blame can fall upon Francis Joseph. A monarch may
surely be excused for assuming that the documents submitted
by his ministers for his perusal, are genuine. It is not his
function to test them, but to draw from them the necessary
deductions and to base upon them his future course of action.
There can be little doubt that the Emperor was won over to
Count Aehrenthal's policy by the tales of Pan-Serb propaganda
with which he was primed ; just as it is well known that when
he once realized the direction in which matters were drifting,
his whole personal influence was exerted to repair blunders
and to preserve peace.
Other tactics had to be adopted to win the Archduke Francis
Ferdinand. As a younger and more energetic man, he was
naturally less averse than his uncle to a forward policy, and
consequently more ready to take the risks which it involved.
But Count Aehrenthal and the Magyar statesmen with whom
he was in touch were well aware that the Archduke regarded
the Southern Slavs with sympathy, as the natural bulwark
of Austrian power in the Balkans. A determined effort had
to be made to undermine those sympathies by proving them
to be ill-placed, to alienate the future Emperor from the idea
of Trialism by convicting the Southern Slavs of anti-dynastic
tendencies. Just as the refusal of an audience to the Dal-
matian deputies in 1903 had rendered the Southern Slavs
suspicious of the dynasty, so the Heir Apparent 's cold recep-
tion at Ragusa in 1906 **' had aroused in his mind the first
**^ On the occasion of Jthe Austro-Hungarian manoeuvres in Dalmatia
in September, 1906, the Heir Apparent visited Ragusa. Through
some muddle, he did not arrive at the time arranged, and the ofi&cial
reception at the harbour of Gravosa consequently fell through. Those
S.S-Q- 321 Y
THE VASIC FORGERIES - .
doubts as to their loyalty and reliability. When we consider
how much more formidable are the barriers which separate
members of the House of Habsburg from their people than
are those which surround our own Royal family, we shall
easily realize that despite his ability and political acumen,
the task of misleading the Archduke Francis Ferdinand was
by no means hopeless. Indeed, nothing was better calculated
to succeed than the production of a dossier of documents
proving treason and conspiracy to be rife among the very race
in whom he was disposed to trust .*^
In this connexion it is necessary to point out that strategic
considerations had their influence upon the development of
affairs. The General Staff had finally rejected the Sandjak
as useless, and regarded the valley of the Morava, through
the heart of Servia, as the true strategic line of advance upon
Salonica ; and the proclamation of martial law in Croatia
would of course have greatly simplified the task of the military
authorities in the event of complications with Servia. This
was also favoured by the Magyar Government, who would
have profited by the opportunity to bring Croatia to heel ;
and it is an open secret that the proclamation would have
been followed by the most summary measures against the
most obnoxious leaders of the alleged Pan-Serb movement.
In effect, Count Aehrenthal invited the Sovereign and the
Heir Apparent to build up their whole policy on a substructure
of lies and gross fraud. In the Middle Ages ministers have
lost their heads for far less grave offences ; and even to-day,
if anything is to be heard of the mediaeval charge of treason,
who had charge of the programme made no apology to the Mayor of
Ragusa, and next day a special audience was provided for the head
of the Trieste police, but the mayor was not received at all. This
caused general offence, and the Heir Apparent, who was doubtless
never informed of the muddle, was received in dead silence by the
crowd, when he drove down the Stradone (the chief street of Ragusa).
On the other hand. Prince Danilo of Montenegro, who was in Ragusa
at the time, was received with deafening cheers. The difficulties
raised by the Hungarian Government as to the appointments of the
three sectional chiefs in Agram had already caused wide discontent,
and Mr. Supilo, in the name of the Coalition, had warned Dr. Wekerle
that " unless tlie appointments were made forthwith, the reception of
the Imperial visitor in Dalmatia might lack enthusiasm," All this
is well described in an article entitled " Austria- Hungary and the
Southern Slavs " by the Vienna correspondent of the Times {Times,
December 31, 1909).
**^ That he also took the authenticity of the " documents " for
granted, is only natural, and cannot expose him to any criticism.
322
MORALITY AND PRESTIGE
it should be directed, not against the fifty-three unhappy
Serbs who languished so long in the prisons of Agram, nor
against the much-maligned leaders of the Croato-Serb Coalition,
but against the statesmen who deliberately set themselves to
alienate the dynasty from one of the chief races of the Empire,
and created a situation in which all constitutional government
was suspended, and even liberty became a mere farce.
The venerable Emperor may be excused if at the age of
eighty he is satisfied with the aversion of a catastrophe, and
if amid the dearth of outstanding statesmen he leaves the
culprit at his post. But the Heir Apparent is scarcely likely
to forget the gross manner in which he has been imposed upon.
He is far too acute a statesman to air his opinions on the
subject, and for action he must still wait ; but the lessons of
the Agram, Fried] ung and Vasic trials can hardly have been
lost upon him, and there is little danger of his again permit-
ting unscrupulous statesmen to exploit his person for their own
aims. By cultivating a closer contact with the people, he
will doubtless be able to prevent the recurrence of such
deception.
" Count Aehrenthal," wrote an able Southern Slav news-
paper, " has been forgiven for excluding morality from politics.
Will he also be forgiven for destroying by his tricks the repu-
tation of the Monarchy ? " *^^ This must not be taken too
literally. The prestige of a great Empire cannot be destroyed
by the misdeeds of a single individual ; but it can indeed
suffer temporary eclipse, and so long as its foreign policy is
conducted by Count Aehrenthal's method, this eclipse is
likely to continue. It is Austria's misfortune, that despite
the enormous progress which she has made during the last
five years in every department of public life — and especially
in her conception of political liberty — she is still gravely handi-
capped by the reactionary influences of the ruling oligarchy
in Hungary. These influences, more than anything else,
hamper the much-needed diplomatic reforms and prevent
the infusion of a more healthy and modern spirit into the
realm of foreign politics. The introduction of Universal
Suffrage in Hungary, which is the essential preliminary to all
true progress in the Habsburg Monarchy, cannot now be
delayed indefinitely, and is likely to lead to a revision of the
obsolete Dual System. Meanwhile the shortcomings of Austro-
449 jigramer Taghlatt, November lo, 1910.
323
THE VASIC FORGERIES
Hungarian diplomacy and the anachronous principles which
underlie it, must not blind us to the fact that Austria is a
genuinely progressive state, full of new and promising hfe,
and that the inevitable changes of the immediate future will
usher in a new era in which such events as have been the
subject of the present volume will speedily become utterly
impossible.
The complete secret history of the " documents " may
perhaps never be known. The original charges against Mr.
Supilo had, as we have already seen, appeared in the organ
of the Frank party, under the pseudonym of Argus, as early
as the autumn of 1905. In Agram their authorship is generally
credited to a certain individual named Pj erotic, who has for
some years past played a mysterious part behind the scenes
of Southern Slav politics, and with whom the leaders of the
Frank party have latterly broken off all relations.'*^'' That
the forgers of the Friedjung " documents " used the articles
of Argus as a groundwork, is hardly open to doubt, especially
to those who have compared the latter with the former. That
even a considerable time before the Annexation mysterious
forces were at work in Budapest, in Agram, in Vienna, to
undermine Mr. Supilo's influence, will be obvious to those
who remember the ominous incident which I have related
on page 301. This view is strikingly confirmed by the admis-
sion of Lieutenant-Field-Marshal Steeb, that the nature of
the charges against Mr. Supilo had been known to the Emperor
himself before the beginning of 1908.*^'-
The direct influence of the Ranch Government on the High
Treason trial and also upon the intrigues which preceded
the Friedjung trial, has also been established beyond all
*^° Their enemies of course assert that they acted mala fide ; but
there is no reason why they should not have been the victims of an
imposture. They at any rate recognized the Friedjung documents
to be forgeries, from the first day on which they became known in
Agram. One of their leaders has described to me how one editor of
Hrvatsho Pravo, on reading through the " documents," at once pointed
out to his colleagues the impossible nature of their contents. My
informant told me that he had himself warned Dr. Friedjung that
he was the victim of a Balkan gang.
*^i This officer made the statement to Mirko v. Pisacic in August,
1908 ; the latter published the information in a pamphlet which has
never been contradicted. Steeb's relationship to Baron Rauch makes
the incident all the more significant.
324
POLICE INTRIGUES
question. We have already had occasion to refer to the
relations which existed between the Croatian Chief of Police,
Mr. Sporcic and the informer Nastic — relations which went
far beyond the precautions demanded by interests of state,
and indeed, according to Professor Masaryk's positive asser-
tion,*^ ^ actually went so far as an order to the juge d' instruction
for a modification of the evidence given by Nastic at the pre-
liminary inquiry. These relations, however, are best summed
up in the words of a leading article in Agramer Taghlatt (March
15, 1911), entitled " Anarchy from Above " — an article which
Mr. Sporcid has not dared to challenge. " He (Sporcic)," it
says, " has sent them (i.e. Nastic and other kindred spirits)
thousands of crowns in order to get articles into Austrian, Hun-
garian and German papers, articles of political bearing, in
closest connexion with the High Treason trial. He has gone
still further. He has had meetings with the Crown witness
Nastic before his examination in that trial ; he informed
him when to come to Agram and gave him advice how to con-
duct himself there ; he sent him the Public Prosecutor's
indictment and wrote him a letter in which he says that he —
the Chief of Police — has made inquiries * at the Court ' {heim
Gerichte), whether it would be well if Nastic in a forthcoming
pamphlet (which however did not appear) were to reply to
the speech made by Professor Masaryk during the High Treason
trial in the Austrian Parliament ; and that he — the Chief of
Police — was informed ' at the Court ' that it would be better
if Nastic kept what he had to say of Masaryk's speech, for
his cross-examination at the trial."
There were the very best of reasons why Sporcic could take
no action against such an article ; for it was merely based
upon the original correspondence of Sporcic, Nastic and the
journalists Steinhardt and Mandl, which had been laid before
the Croatian Diet by Dr. Srgjan Budisavljevic the day before,
and which caused a profound sensation throughout Croatia. ^^^
*" Masaryk, op. cit. p. 88 [Ich weiss sehr genau). It is hardly neces-
sary to point out that Professor Masaryk still has a good many reve-
lations in reserve.
*^^ How Dr. Budisavljevic obtained possession of these docu-
ments I have no idea ; can they have been bought from Nastic
after he had been cast off by the authorities in Vienna and Agram ?
Their contents throw a hideous light upon the dark corners of the
stage. In one letter, dated February 28, igog (the week before the
Agram trial opened), Sporcic tells Nastic that he is sending him 150
325
THE VASIC FORGERIES
(Needless to say, Count Aehrenthal's inspired press took care
that little was heard of them in Austria.) That Sporcic
simply acted upon superior orders in distributing money to
spies and " journalists," was abundantly clear ; and Baron
Ranch was openly accused in the Sabor of having inspired
the whole intrigue. That Baron Ranch's policy was directly
inspired from Vienna and Budapest, he himself would not
be concerned to deny.
A further proof of Rauch's connexion with the forgeries
was the Kandt incident, exposed by the Croat Progressive
deputy Professor Surmin, on March 6, 1909, in the Hungarian
Parliament. Baron Ranch had from the moment of his
appointment as Ban, laboured to compromise the Croato-
Serb Coalition, and one of the methods which he employed
was to commission a self-styled " journalist " named Max
Kandt to collect material against the Coalition leaders. In
the year following February, 1908, this individual is believed
to have received 7,000 crowns for the " documents " which
he supplied, to say nothing of payments from Mr. Accurti,
the Public Prosecutor. Professor Surmin was able to put a
stop to the intrigue, by sketching in his interpellation, ^*
crowns and a copy of the indictment, bids him talk over with Steinhardt
the matter of newspaper articles and to try " to get Mandl also," and
says that he (the Chief of Police) will come to Vienna if necessary for a
talk (with Nastic the Crown witness) ! A letter dated April 21, 1909,
to Carl Langer in Vienna, says that he already has the money, but
cannot send it through the Agram post without arousing suspicion !
and asks Mandl not to publish any article without previous intimation.
Another letter, dated April 20, 1909, and signed " Nikola," refers with
visible annoyance to the statement just published by the Croatian
Press, that the writer had " conferred with you in Pest, and that we
went together with His Excellency to Vienna." " Tell me if these
lies come from Mandl. Or did Steinhardt blab ?" (cf. p. 172). In
a letter of May 23, Sporcic says that as he cannot write all he has to
say, he will arrive in Vienna on the 26th, and stop at Ronacher's under
the name of Stefanovic. He sends 100 crowns for Steinhardt's railway
expenses. In an unsigned letter of May 29, the same writer refers
to Nastic's projected pamphlet, and the idea of mentioning in it their
journey together from Pest to Vienna and Agram. " I have inquired
at the Court, whether it would be well to write about this just now
and I was told that it would not be good, for it would be best that it
should come up first in court." Most of the other letters are from
Steinhardt to Nastic or to Mandl — some being signed under false
names — and deal with cash payments.
*" See report of interpellation, March 7, 1909. See also Leopold
Mandl, Oesterreich-Ungarn und Serbien, p. 46 (the official apologist
for Aehrenthal). He states as a fact, that Ranch bought a secret
326
"A MORAL MORASS"
the methods adopted by Kandt, in conjunction with a certain
Kukic and a photographer called Simic. He actually pro-
duced Kandt's money receipts, and certain letters of Kukic
reporting to Kandt the result of his journeys of inquiry.
Yet another intrigue in Agram came to light at the time
of Professor Masaryk's Delegation speeches. Just as a con-
nexion had been established between Nastic and the military
authorities in Bosnia (see note 272), so now a connexion was
established between the forger Vasic and the General-Com-
mando in Agram. Vasic, when sent to Agram in February,
1910, at the instance of the Belgrad Legation, went to Captain
Cvitas, an officer of the Agram garrison, visited the theatre
in his company, and actually lodged with him during part
of his stay. Captain Cvitas, so far from denying this, admitted
that he had placed Vasic under observation from the moment
of his arrival in Agram (in other words, before the fellow
announced himself) and that in doing so he merely acted on
the orders of his superiors. The only possible inference is
that the military authorities in Croatia had their share in the
game of intrigue, and were acting in collusion with the Belgrad
Legation. It had already transpired that the General Staff
in Vienna was basing its plans upon the information of Vasic
and other spies, the genuine portions of which were calculated
as a bait to secure acceptance of the false. In short, it is
virtually certain that Vasic was playing fast and loose with
both the Austro-Hungarian and Servian authorities, and
betraying each according to his fancy. Such a game would
not have lasted very long, even if Vasic had been a genius
instead of a man of very limited intelligence. Yet at a critical
moment in the relations of the two countries, he definitely
succeeded in leading the Austrian General Staff upon a false
trail ; and in the event of war, the result might have been very
serious.
It seemed advisable to describe in considerable detail the
odious methods which underlay Count Aehrenthal's policy
of annexation ; for without detailed treatment the whole
story might well seem to be incredible. The reader is now
in a position to understand the heartfelt exclamation of the
Christian Socialist deputy Hrvoj in the Croatian Diet, " We
do not want to live any longer in a moral morass." *^^ For-
dossier of documents from " Kandt alias Kohn." On the same page he
describes Ranch as "an honourable cavaher."
*" See Agramer TagblaU, March 14, 191 1. A Southern Slav politician
327
THE VASIC FORGERIES
tunately the bankruptcy of the PoUce State has been pro-
claimed before the eyes of Europe : organized diplomatic
theft is recognized to be an anachronism in the twentieth
century ; and all honest men will echo the words of the ultra-
loyal Austrian Armee-Zeiiung, " Zum Teufel mit dem Spitzel-
system " (To the devil with the pohce spies).
in conversation with the present writer, used a still more drastic expres-
sion, reproaching Count Aehrenthal for his " dunghill policy."
32«
CHAPTER XIII
Magyar Railway Policy
THE desperate quarrels so frequently kindled in Austria-
Hungary by such apparent trifles as the inscription
over an office, the address of a post-bag, or the coloured ribbons
worn by a child, seem merely ludicrous to the foreigner, who
is unaware of the importance of external trappings in a country
where each race upholds a rival theory of constitutional law.
But that the quarrel between the Magyar and Croato-Serb
Coalitions originated over the provisions of a Railway Bill,
was no mere accident ; for underlying the whole struggle is
the fact that the Railway Policy which Budapest has advo-
cated and enforced for many years past, is the chief factor in
checking Croatia's natural economic development, and hence
also the political development of the Southern Slavs.
The whole railway system of Croatia-Slavonia is exploited
in the selfish interests of Budapest, to which the most crying
needs of the country itself are deliberately sacrificed. A glance
at any railway map of Europe will show that Croatia only con-
tains two railways which can be described as main lines — that
from Gyekenyes via Agram to Fiume, and that from Zombor
via Dalja to Bosnisch-Brod. The former links Budapest with
the sea, the latter links Budapest with Bosnia. Everything
has been done to connect agricultural Croatia with its most
formidable agricultural rival, Hungary, and to hamper its
connexions with its best customers in Carniola, Carinthia and
Styria.
The connexions between Agram and Budapest are excellent,
because Agram of necessity lies on the main line from the
Hungarian capital to Fiume. The connexions between Agram
and Vienna are wretched, every effort being made to keep
Croatia and Austria apart. Between Fiume and Agram — a
distance of 142 miles — there is no branch line of any kind
leading towards Austria. Yet a connexion is badly needed
329
MAGYAR RAILWAY POLICY
between Laibach, the capital of Carniola, and the town of
Karlovac (Karlstadt), on this very line ; and though Karlovac is
the chief market of Western Croatia and a centre for agricultural
produce, and though Austria has built her share of the neces-
sary line as far as Rudolfswerth, work has not even been com-
menced on the Croatian side of the frontier. The explanation
is very simple : the Hungarian Ministry of Commerce does not
wish to encourage trade and intercourse between Croatia and
the Slovene districts.
From Agram itself a branch railway connects with Stein-
briick, a junction of the Austian Siidbahn situated in the upper
valley of the Save between Cilli and Laibach. But though
trains do run on this line in connexion with the most import-
ant express trains between Vienna and Trieste, they are
wretchedly slow, taking two hours and a half where less than
two-thirds of the time would not be rapid travelling.
A more direct route from Agram to Graz, Vienna and the
chief Austrian towns is that via Zapresic and Krapina to
Pragerhof on the main Siidbahn south of Marburg. On the
Austrian side of the frontier the line has been carried as far as
the growing watering-place of Rohitsch ; but the nine miles
of line still necessary to connect Rohitsch with Krapina, have
purposely not been built by the Hungarian Ministry of
Commerce.
Until, then, this much-needed route is completed, the sole
alternative routes from Agram to Vienna are that via Stein-
briick and that via Gyekenyes, Nagy-Kanizsa, Szombathely
(Steinamanger), Sopron (Oedenburg), Wiener - Neustadt.
Yet incredible as it may seem, there is no express train con-
nexion on this line during the daytime ; it is necessary either
to leave Agram after midnight, or to start early in the morning
by an extremely slow train, which crawls until it reaches
Magyar territory. Even then there is a delay of over an hour
at Nagy-Kanizsa before a quick train can be had ; with the
result that the tiresome journey to Vienna has been prolonged
three or four hours longer than need have been the case.
Meanwhile the direct route, which would materially shorten
the journey from Agram to Vienna, is also awaiting Magyar
pleasure. In Austrian territory from Wiener Neustadt to
Aspang, Friedberg, Fehring the line already exists ; but from
Fehring southwards to Varazdin no pretence has been made at
building it.
In short, the settled policy of Budapest is to discourage inter-
330
CROATIA AND A NEW ROUTE TO THE EAST
course between Croatia and Austria, and to tempt those travel-
lers to whom ease and comfort appeal, to make the long detour
through Budapest, rather than follow the direct and natural
route.
The connexions of Agram eastwards to Belgrad are somewhat
better : there are at least quick trains and through-carriages.
But Magyar opposition has hitherto prevented one of the great
international routes from passing through Agram. Since the
opening of the Simplon tunnel, the shortest route from Paris
to Belgrade and Constantinople would be via Lausanne, Milan,
Verona, Venice, Trieste, Laibach, Agram. Over loo kilo-
meters would thus be saved. The Paris-Lyon-Mediterranee
had already accepted the scheme, when it was blocked by the
Magyar authorities insisting upon the new route touching
Fiume. It is true that this modification while excluding
Laibach from the benefits of the scheme would not affect
Agram and would not increase the mileage of the route. But
on the other hand the configuration of the country between
Trieste and Agram supplies a fatal objection. From Trieste
the new express would have to climb steadily as far as St.
Peter-in-Karst, from which point via Laibach and Steinbriick
to Agram the gradients present no difficulty whatever. In
order to go by Fiume, however, the express would still have to
climb to St. Peter, but would then be compelled to descend
again steadily to the level of the Adriatic at Fiume and then
to mount once more to a height of several thousand feet to
Ogulin, before it could descend from the mountainous Karst
to Agram and the plain of the Save. From a financial point
of view the diversion of the route to Fiume was a fatal objection
to the whole scheme : and when the Magyars suggested that
the passengers should be shipped from Trieste to Fiume, it
became obvious that they were trifling with the idea, and it
collapsed altogether.
But it is when we turn to consider the connexions of Croatia
with Dalmatia and Bosnia, that the full enormity of the situa-
tion becomes apparent. The Magyars have consistently
opposed the building of any railway into Dalmatia, and thus
to this day the greater part of the latter province is inaccessi-
ble to the rest of Europe by rail and can only be reached by
steamer. Austria is cut off from her southernmost province
by the Western half of Croatia, and for many years supinely
tolerated this situation, despite the repeated protests of the
Dalmatians themselves. When the commercial I" Ausgleich
331
MAGYAR RAILWAY POLICY
between Austria and Hungary was renewed in the winter of
1907, a special clause was inserted, binding Hungary to push
on the necessary work for a railway extension from Ogulin, on
the main line between Fiume and Agram, and Knin, the most
northerly point of the local Dalmatian railway. But since
then, Hungary has made no effort to execute its pledges ; the
railway is no nearer completion than it was four years ago, and
the Austrian Government, in spite of speeches and official
statements in the Reichsrat, has been too weak-kneed to hold
Hungary to its bargain. Dalmatia remains isolated from
Europe, and suffers accordingly ; a vital link in the chain
of Croato-Serb unity remains unforged, and Southern Croatia is
stagnant and neglected.
At present only two railway lines enter Bosnia from the
north. The older route, crossing the frontier at Doberlin,
connects Agram with Banjaluka, the third largest town in the
annexed provinces. It was originally constructed by the
Turks, as the commencement of a strategic line connecting the
Bosnian frontier with the Aegean. Like so many Turkish
projects, it was abandoned long before its completion, and
Banjaluka remained a terminus. Though the distance by rail
from Agram to Banjaluka is only 133 miles, it involves a jour-
ney of eight or nine hours ! The direct route from Agram and
Austria to Sarajevo thus rem^ains incomplete, owing to the
absence of a railway connexion along the defile of the River
Vrbas, from Banjaluka to Jajce ; and this is mainly due to the
influence of the Hungarian Government, which has known how
to prevent the erection of a line which would tend to direct
Bosnian traffic away from Budapest.
The other entrance to Bosnia is by Bosnisch-Brod, on the
River Save, and on the main line between Agram and Belgrad.
Here passengers must change onto the narrow-gauge railway
which leads to the Bosnian capital, Sarajevo. Travellers from
Vienna and the West find it easier and quicker to go to Bosnia
through Budapest, though that is far from being the shortest
route in mere mileage : both trains and tariffs are arranged in
such a way as to divert as much traffic as possible through
Budapest, and in this case Croatia suffers very materially.
Not long ago the Chamber of Commerce in Agram urged the
Siidbahn and the Bosnian railways to arrange a new express
train service to connect Graz with Sarajevo, via Steinbriick,
Agram and Brod, on the ground that under present conditions
it is virtually necessary to go from Graz to Sarajevo via
332
BOSNIA AND DALMATIA ISOLATED BY THE MAGYARS
Budapest, a detour of about 200 miles. Both railways readily
entertained the idea, but the Hungarian Ministry of Commerce
withheld its consent, on the ground of special interests.
This incident helps to explain the badness of the railway
connexions between Agram and Vienna.
Meanwhile, the most pressing railway connexions between
Bosnia and Dalmatia have hitherto been frustrated in the same
manner. The Bosnian railway runs southwards from Sara-
jevo to Mostar and then through the defile of the Narenta to the
fever-swamps of Metkovic ; but it does not reach a port worthy
of the name until it arrives at Gravosa, the harbour of Ragusa.
Meanwhile, the rising seaport of Spalato, in Central Dalmatia,
has no railway connexion with its natural Hinterland in
Bosnia : and indeed, with the exception of Ragusa and Cattaro,
the situation of Dalmatia in respect of trade-routes with the
interior is relatively far more unfavourable than it was in the
Middle Ages. Then it could boast as good highroads of com-
munication as the rest of South-East Europe : now it is fatally
handicapped by the lack of what all its neighbours enjoy.
The need for an extension of the Spalato-Sinj railway across
the Bosnian frontier via Arzano-Livno to the present terminus
in Bugojno, has long been apparent to the Dalmatians, but the
supine attitude of the Austrian and Bosnian Governments has
hitherto allowed them to clamour for it in vain. But we shall
not go far wrong in ascribing this delay at least in part to the
influence of the Magyars, who know that Spalato-Sinj -Bugojno
would inevitably lead to Spalato-Knin-Ogulin and are anxious
to maintain Dalmatia and Croatia in their present isolation.
Good railway connexions would naturally involve closer inter-
course between the various Southern Slav provinces, and would
thus foster the movement in favour of political union. Hence
it is considered necessary in Budapest to maintain as long as
possible the present anomalous position, by which the journey
from Spalato to Banjaluka actually takes 44 hours, although
the distance could be covered by a quick train in 3 or 4 hours.
The tariff system is conducted on similar principles. Every
effort is made to concentrate trade and commerce in Budapest
and to hinder Croatia's commercial progress towards the East
and still more towards the West. The unfair results of this
essentially Magyar tariff are best illustrated by a comparison
of the situation of Agram and Fiume — the Croatian capital
and the Magyar seaport. A few examples will suffice. From
the station of Novska the transport of a truck containing food-
333
' " MAGYAR RAILWAY POLICY
stuffs to the amount of 10,000 kilograms, costs 331 crowns as
far as Fiume — a distance of 347 kilometers, whereas to Agram,
a distance of only 220 kilometers, it costs 348 crowns, or 17
crowns more for the shorter distance. The tariff for a similar
truck between Osijek (Essek) and Agram — a distance of 317
kilometers — is 365 crowns, but between Osijek and Fiume — a
distance of 534 kilometers — it is only 341 crowns, or 24 crowns
less for the longer distance.
In order to divert Croatian timber to Budapest, instead of the
sawmills of Croatia, the tariff has been manipulated in the most
incredible manner. For example, the distance from Brod (an
important timber-centre) to Dugoselo (a large Croatian saw-
mill) is recorded in the tariff as 330 kilometers and the distance
from Brod to Budapest as 366 kilometers. In reality Brod is
only 171 kilometers from Dugoselo ; but the compilers have
reckoned the distance by all kinds of roundabout side-routes.
Obviously the wood merchants of Brod are driven by this trick
to send their wood to Budapest rather than select a route which
is so unnaturally expensive. Similar examples could be given
of the devices by which goods from Budapest are placed at an
advantage over Croatian goods in Croatia itself ; while in
Herzegovina it is sometimes cheaper to send goods from Bosnia
by way of Budapest than by the direct route ! The railway
tariff has been drawn up with the deliberate intention of
hampering Croatian exports and leaving a free field to Hungarian
industry.
Croatian public opinion has gradually become alive to the
fact that the country is exploited economically by Hungary and
prevented from developing its natural export trade with Austria
and Italy. This exploitation renders still more imperative the
need for Croato-Serb Unity, for joint action against Magyar
aggression. By helping the Southern Slavs in their economic
struggle, Austria would be helping those with whom her own
economic interests are identical, and would be paving the way
for Austrian economic influence throughout the Balkans. The
whole Southern Slav world is at present the victim of a selfish
policy of monopoly and favouritism directed from Budapest.
It rests with Austria to put an end to this economic thraldom.
334
CHAPTER XIV
Croat and Serb — The Problem of Unity
"Er sah (die Besten Oesterreichs) verdorren am Felsgnind des
Unglaubens an eine bessere Zeit." —
Rudolf Hans Bartsch.
IN the present volume I have attempted to summarize, for
the first time in English, the history of the Croat and Serb
race under the sway of the House of Habsburg, and to treat in
greater detail the constitutional position of the Triune King-
dom of Croatia-Slavonia-Dalmatia, its theoretical relations to
the Crown of St. Stephen and its practical relations to the
Hungarian Government. The fulfilment of this task led
inevitably to an account of the part played by Croatia in the
Bosnian Crisis and the political scandals which followed in its
train. The reader is thus in a position to judge of the import-
ance of the Southern Slav question in its bearings upon Aus-
trian policy in the Balkans and upon the balance of power
within the Monarchy itself. In the following pages, therefore,
I shall confine myself to a general survey of the problem, leav-
ing it as far as possible to the reader himself to point the moral
and adorn the tale.
The problem of Croato-Serb Unity may be described without
exaggeration as the decisive problem of the Habsburg Monar-
chy ; for it supplies the eventual key alike to external and to
internal policy. On the one hand, no forward policy on the
part of Austria can succeed, which ignores the wishes and
aspirations of the eight million Southern Slavs who now own
Habsburg sway ; while on the other hand, they occupy a
position which would enable them, under certain circum-
stances, to destroy the internal balance upon which the Dual
System rests, by throwing their whole influence upon the side
of Austria or of Hungary.
The situation of the Southern Slavs illustrates in a striking
manner the old conflict between history and geography. A
335
CROAT AND SERB— THE PROBLEM OF UNITY
wide territory which forms a natural geographical unit and is
peopled by a homogeneous population, speaking a single
language, has been split up by an unkindly fate into a large
number of purely artificial fragments. Passing these frag-
ments in brief review, we find that Croatia-Slavonia forms an
autonomous kingdom under the Crown of Hungary : Dalmatia
and Istria are two provinces of the Austrian Empire, each with
its separate Diet and administration ; the town of Fiume forms
an unit of its own, under a Governor appointed direct from
Budapest ; close upon 500,000 Serbs inhabit the three most
southerly counties of Hungary proper : Bosnia and Herzegovina
are administered jointly by Austria and Hungary with a pro-
vincial Government and Diet in Sarajevo : Servia and Monte-
negro form two independent kingdoms, while Old Servia is
the most northerly vilayet of European Turkey. This intoler-
able situation has naturally been rendered more acute than
ever by economic developments and by the changed conditions
of life in the twentieth century. Political boundaries hamper
the progress of the race at every turn, and serve as a handicap
in favour of its rivals, notably the Magyars, the Bulgarians and
even the more backward Albanians. Thus for purely economic
reasons the ground was ready for a movement towards national
unity, even if national feeling had been entirely dead, and as a
matter of fact, so far from being dead, it is growing in intensity.
The movement in favour of Croato-Serb Unity has many
obstacles to surmount, and the backward state of the country
and the people may delay its achievement. But as surely as
Germany and Italy have won their liberty and unity, so surely
will it be won by the Croato-Serb race. The real problem is the
manner of its achievement ; and here we are at once faced by
two alternatives. Unity can be attained either inside or out-
side the Habsburg Monarchy, either by the latter's aid and
under its auspice^, or in defiance of its opposition. Let us
consider the latter alternative first.
The Pan-Serb ideal may be briefly defined as the union of all
members of the Serb and Croat race under the sceptre of the
Karageorgevitch dynasty, with Belgrad as the capital of the
new state. That this ideal should appeal to the Chauvinists
of the Servian Kingdom is natural enough ; but no one who
has had an opportunity of comparing Belgrad and Agram need
make the mistake of supposing that it could be greeted with
enthusiasm by any Croat, or even by educated Serbs within the
Monarchy. The triumph of the Pan-Serb idea would mean the
336
THE PAN-SERB IDEA
triumph of Eastern over Western culture, and would be a fatal
blow to progress and modern development throughout the
Balkans,
But even if for the moment we assume that the fulfilment of
Pan-Serb dreams is desirable, we must consider the steps by
which it could be attained. It is obvious that Servia cannot
hope to obtain by peaceful means the cession of Bosnia, still
less of Croatia and Dalmatia, by Austria-Hungary. Such a
surrender can only follow the break-up of the Habsburg Monar-
chy and the European conflagration which such an event would
inevitably produce. It has long been an axiom of European
diplomacy that if Austria-Hungary did not exist, it would be
necessary to create it ; and the maintenance of its territorial
integrity has justly been regarded as a pressing European
interest. Until the international crisis of 1908 many superficial
observers believed Austria-Hungary to be a decadent state,
which would fall to pieces on the death of the present Emperor,
or as the result of any determined onslaught from outside.'^^
But the action of Count Aehrenthal during that eventful win-
ter, however open to criticism from other points of view, has
at least this sterling merit, that it has for ever dispelled the
myth of Austrian decadence. Now that foreign publicists
have recovered from the rude shock administered to their pet
theories and can see the general situation in better perspective,
it is widely recognized that Austria-Hungary, so far from being
decadent, is a powerful and progressive state, with one of the
finest and best-prepared armies in the world — 3. state which
would be even more powerful and progressive were it not
hampered by the reactionary influences of the Magyar oli-
garchy and its racial and class policy in Hungary. That
Servia and Montenegro, even if the former's army were as per-
fect as it is known to be defective, could measure forces with
the Monarchy, is utterly out of the question ; war could only
end in the fall of their independence.
Thus the Pan-Serb solution may be dismissed as altogether
outside the realm of practical politics. The corruption of
public life in Servia, the stagnation caused by embittered party
factions and by crushing armaments (which overburden the
Budget, without producing the desired effect) and the interests
*" In a small volume published in 1907 {The Future of Austria-
Hungary and the Attitude of the Great Powers), I endeavoured to
demonstrate the absurdity of this belief.
s.s.Q. 237 z
CROAT AND SERB—THE PROBLEM OF UNITY
of European peace combine to render such a solution highly
undesirable.
Even among those Austrians who fully realize that Pan-Serb-
ism need not be taken too seriously, there are many who are
easily frightened by the bogey of Pan-Slavism, and who seri-
ously suspect Russia of designs for uniting the entire Slav race
under the sceptre of the Czar. So far as the Southern Slavs, at
any rate, are concerned, this fear can only be described as
fantastic. Their union to Russia presupposes the conquest of
Hungary, and its corollaries, the destruction of Austrian mili-
tary power and the defeat of the allied German armies. But
in any case, before she could turn to so formidable a task,
Russia is faced by enough internal problems of a racial charac-
ter, to occupy her for many years. Her intolerant attitude to
the Polish and Ukraine questions makes it wellnigh impossible
for Russia to pose as the champion of Pan-Slavism ; for the
Pan-Slav movement, in any save a mere Pan-Muscovite sense,
is in direct conflict with the oppressive Chauvinism which the
governing classes in Russia at present favour. The Bosnian
crisis revealed the fact that Russia is not yet strong enough for
a genuine Pan-Slav policy, or at least that she must for the
present be content with a policy of peaceful intrigue in Sofia
and Constantinople.
As we have seen, Croato-Serb Unity outside the Habsburg
Monarchy can only be attained through universal war and a
thorough revision of the map of Europe. The achievement of
that unity inside the Habsburg Monarchy is a far more practi-
cal policy. Pan-Serbism is faced by a rival Pan-Croat theory,
which aims at the erection, on a strictly Croat and Catholic
basis, of a Croatian kingdom under Habsburg sway, as a third
state on equal terms with Austria and Hungary. This state
would comprise Croatia, Slavonia, Dalmatia, Istria, Bosnia and
Herzegovina, and its natural capital would be in Agram. The
policy of Trialism, as it has come to be called, has been widely
advocated, not merely among the Southern Slavs themselves,
but even in German Austria ; and if rumour may be trusted,
it is favoured in the highest quarters. While the Christian
Socialists regard Croatia as a valuable ally against the Magyar
oligarchy and in the cause of the Austrian Imperial idea, the
Czechs look upon Trialism as a step towards Federalism, and
many Germans are inclined to approve of any scheme which
would reduce the Slav element in the Austrian Parliament.
The desire of the Pan-Croats that Carniola, and even parts of
338
CROAT AND SERB EQUALITY
Carinthia and Styria, should be incorporated with the new state
need not concern us further here ; for it is obvious that no
Austrian party could sanction an arrangement which would cut
off Vienna from its direct connexion with the sea. Even the
extremists are wise enough to realize the impracticable nature
of this demand ; and it is certain that even were Trialism to be
realized in the near future, the Slovene districts would not be
included in the new complex.
The most zealous exponents of the Pan-Croat ideal are to be
found in the Party of Pure Right, led by Dr. Joseph Frank.
This politician has the great merit of having clearly perceived
and consistently advocated an Austro-Croatian alliance at a
time when public opinion in Croatia was hostile to Vienna.
But on the other hand his policy is marred by the absurd
theory — equally untenable from a historic and an ethnographic
standpoint — that the Serbs of Croatia are no true Serbs, but
merely Orthodox Croats, and by an absolute refusal to recog-
nize their racial and national identity within the bounds of
the Triune Kingdom. In a Southern Slav state created in
accordance with such views, the Serbs would at best be toler-
ated, but would in no case be accorded equal rights ; and thus
to enforce such a policy (even if it were practicable) would
merely be equivalent to driving the Serbs into alliance with
the Magyars.
The theories of the Party of Right are merely those of the
Magyar Party of Independence, translated into Croatian terms ;
the same juggling with high-sounding constitutional phrases,
the same narrow racial intolerance, characterize the adherents
of Kossuth and of Frank. A state which took such theories
for its foundation would be as little deserving of sympathy, and
as unstable, as a state based upon the rival Pan-Serb theory of
which Belgrad politicians dream. The only true basis for such
a state is the recognition of the absolute equality of Croat and
Serb, and of their essential unity as two inseparable elements in
the life of a single nation. Fortunately, a growing body of
opinion throughout the Southern Slav world, is adopting this
view ; and the linguistic unity which has been wrought by
philologists and men of letters, may be regarded as a happy
omen for the achievement of that wider unity upon which the
future of the race depends. That a Southern Slav should pre-
fer to call himself Croat rather than Serb, or Serb rather than
Croat, ought to be a matter with which the State or society are
in no way concerned. The larger Southern^Slav patriotism
339
CROAT AND SERB— THE PROBLEM OF UNITY
should include and transcend the sense of racial individuality,
just as Southern Slav patriotism is in no way inconsistent with
a loyal pride in the possession of Austrian Imperial citizenship.
The brutally narrow conception of the state advocated by
Magyar statesmen, the desire to absorb and assimilate all rival
elements and to enforce a dull uniformity of type, must be
replaced by the British conception of citizenship, which takes
a delight in creating new nations and combining an endless
diversity of race and type with the essential unity which
encourages rather than hampers individuality.
The chief obstacles to Trialism are the hostility of the Mag-
yars, and the absence of any statesman in Austria capable of
guiding the movement to a successful issue. Yet a firm and
active alliance between Vienna and Agram would bear down
the opposition of the Magyars, hampered as they are by the
presence of a strong non-Magyar minority and a discontented
and neglected proletariat. For over forty years the Magyars
have monopolized all political power in Hungary and have
arrested all development in Croatia ; but to-day they have little
or nothing to show for this monopoly. The nationalities are
embittered and alienated, but not assimilated ; a Magyarophil
party has become a virtual impossibility in the Croatia of to-
day ; in Hungary the Jews alone are triumphant, in politics,
in the Press, in finance, in commerce. Dr. Lueger's offensive
gibes at the " Judaeo-Magyars " contain a painful element of
truth ; for Hungary is in danger of becoming a Zionist rather
than a Magyar national state.
The policy of a whole generation has resulted in the bank-
ruptcy of Unionism in Croatia. The Compromise has been
violated time after time by the Hungarian Government ; the
financial and commercial relations of the two countries have
become intolerable to Croatia : the legal position of Fiume is
still in suspense. To-day the Hungaro-Croatian Compromise
must be pronounced a lamentable failure, for two main reasons.
On the one hand, the Magyars have not kept their side of the
bargain ; on the other hand, all such bargains, to be success-
ful, must rest on common interests, and the interests of
Hungary and Croatia are diametrically opposed.
Thus the present situation has no solid foundations ; rest-
ing as it does upon force, not upon inclination, it might collapse
in a moment. It is bolstered up by the power of the Magyar
oligarchy, which does not'even represent the wishes and interests
of the Magyar race, stillfless of the polyglot Hungarian nation
340
TRIALISM
as a whole, and by the support of the Sovereign, who has earned
nothing but ingratitude for his wonderful loyalty alike to the
letter and to the spirit of that Dual System which he and his
advisers created. But it is scarcely conceivable that that
system, which after fulfilling a useful part in the evolution of
the Monarchy, is to-day effete and anachronous, will long sur-
vive the accession of a new sovereign. Without in the faintest
degree detracting from the splendid services of the present
Emperor-King in the political development of his dominions,
it is allowable to point out that an equally splendid task awaits
his successor — the destruction of political and racial monopoly
in Hungary and the erection of a free community of equal
nations, bound by indissoluble ties to a central Throne and
Parliament.
It was the short-sighted folly of Austrian statesmen that
drove the Croats into the arms of their enemies in Budapest.
The alliance was brief and ended in disillusionment ; it now rests
with " Vienna " to prevent the Croats in their despair from
appealing once more for Magyar help. At present Magyar
Chauvinism renders such a solution impossible ; but if Vienna
delays too long, and wastes the psychological moment, a Mag-
yar statesman might arise who, commencing with a bold and
thorough advocacy of electoral and administrative reform,
might make peace with the non-Magyar nationalities and carry
into practical effect that Balkan confederation under Magyar
leadership, of which Louis Kossuth dreamed when exile had
taught him the folly of racial aggression.
Unquestionably the ideal solution lies in the direction of a
moderate form of Trialism, under the auspices of Austria.
But so long as Count Aehrenthal remains in office, no such
development can be expected. His well-known reactionary
sentiments render him averse to political change : cordial
relations between him and the Southern Slavs are obviously
impossible after the Nastic and Vasic scandals ; and he is
already giving fresh proof of his cynical view of all national
aspirations by his attitude in the Albanian question, A
radical revision of diplomatic and secret service methods in the
Balkans can hardly be expected from a statesman with Count
Aehrenthal's antecedents : and until such a revision occurs,
no Southern Slav can regard official circles in Vienna with
anything but extreme suspicion and reserve.
In Vienna the Christian Socialist party is not unconscious of
the task which awaits Austria in the South ; but its extreme
341
CROAT AND SERB— THE PROBLEM OF UNITY
clerical leanings have unhappily obscured its very genuine
sense of Austrian Imperial patriotism, and the bluff genius of
its founder, Dr. Lueger, is sadly lacking to his divided party.
On the other hand, a growth of statesmanlike feeling is notice-
able among the German Liberals of Austria, who for so many
years were content to regard their country merely as an inferior
imitation of Germany, and who by their offensive attitude to all
the other races of the Monarchy did so much to arrest the
growth of " Austrian " patriotic feeling.
The triangular game between Vienna, Budapest and Agram
will inevitably have fresh developments to show in the course
of the next few years. Perhaps the key to the whole situation
lies in the fact that the two provinces of Bosnia and Herze-
govina have been definitely annexed, without any clear
arrangement having been made as to their future status and
ownership. Sooner or later a conflict must arise between
Austria and Hungary for their possession — if only because by
their new constitution no legislation of the Diet can pass into
effect without the sanction of both Vienna and Budapest !
Count Andrassy's aim in occupying Bosnia in 1878 was to pre-
vent in the narrow interest of the Magyars, the formation of a
Serb national state. But in reality his action laid the seeds of a
Croato-Serb state, far more dangerous to Hungary than any
purely Serb state could be. The annexation brings the aspira-
tions of Croato-Serb Unity within the range of practical
politics, by transferring the centre of gravity among the
Southern Slavs from the Serbs to the Croats, from Belgrad
to Agram. Henceforth Agram must tend more and more to
become the centre of Southern Slav life ; its culture is
already greatly superior to that of Belgrad, and the removal
of political restraint would be the signal for a fresh national
revival.
The Serbs in Bosnia are as yet impervious to the new idea.
Skilfully encouraged by Baron Kallay for many years to remain
in narrow provincial grooves, but accustomed, in their ignorance
of the world at large, to regard Belgrad with blind admiration,
their leaders in the new Diet are intransigeant to a degree ;
and nothing illustrates better their complete lack of perspec-
tive, than the impossible demands which they put forward in
the land question and the futile obstruction to which they
resorted when they saw those demands to be unattainable.
But this slavish and unfounded belief in Belgrad is already on
the wane in Bosnia. The influence of the Serbs of Croatia and
342
AUSTRIA'S MISSION
Slavonia is growing steadily stronger, and already a new Serb
party, with capable leaders, has been founded in Bosnia to
promote the idea of Croato-Serb brotherhood and union under
the Habsburg sceptre.
The formation of a Trialist state would enormously strengthen
Austria's prestige in the Western Balkans, and might well pro-
duce a reaction of feeling in Servia, where the barrenness of
a Russophil policy has long been evident to far-sighted ob-
servers. In such an event, it is by no means impossible that
Servia and Montenegro might be ready to conclude a military
convention and Customs Union with the reconstructed
Monarchy. The true obstacle to cordial relations between
Austria and the Southern Slav world lies in the pretensions
of the Magyar oligarchy.
For Austria the advantages from such a solution are very
great ; and her future as a great Power depends upon it. Her
permanent retention of Dalmatia depends upon her treatment
oJ the Dalmatian Hinterland, Bosnia and Herzegovina. The
population of Dalmatia, Istria and Croatia form the best
recruiting ground for the Navy and the merchant service, and
must therefore be propitiated by a Power which seeks to retain
canmand of the Adriatic, and so paralyse any efforts of Italian
Iredentism. Above all, Croatia and Dalmatia control Hun-
gary's sole means of access to the sea, and thus from a strategic
ard geographical point of view, are of the first importance in
Ajstria's struggle against Hungary — a struggle which cannot
be averted in the near future.
The whole Eastern coast of the Adriatic stiU remains an
unsolved equation in the arithmetic of Europe, and its solution
depends upon the course of events among the Southern Slavs.
[f Vienna has at last realized her Imperial mission, if her states-
nien have the courage and ability to identify the movement for
Croato-Serb Unity with the requirements of Austrian patriot-
ism, then the situation along the Adriatic and throughout the
Western and Northern Balkans may undergo a speedy and
beneficial change. By abandoning the old motto of " Divide
et Impera " and by directing into her own channels a move-
ment which is already too formidable to be permanently
repressed, Austria will go far towards finding a solution for
:he complicated problem of nationality.
Croato-Serb Unity must and will come. It rests with
Austria to delay its attainment for another generation and reap
the disastrous fruits of such a policy, or by resolutely encourag-
343
CROAT AND SERB— THE PROBLEM OF UNITY
ing Southern Slav aspirations, to establish Austrian influence
in the Northern Balkans by lasting bands of sympathy and
interest. Upon Austria's choice of alternative depends the
future of the Habsburg Monarchy.
344
Appendices
APPENDIX I
THE ELECTION OF FERDINAND I AS KING OF CROATIA
This document, drawn up by the Croatian Estates at Cetin on
January i, 1527, has been extracted from Kukutjevic, Jura Regni
Croatiae Dalmatiae et Slavoniae, Pars ii, vol. i, pp. 20-22.
Nos Andreas dei et Apostolice Sedis gratia Episcopus Tiieensis
et Abbas Toplicenses, Joannes Torquatus Corbavie, NicolausZrinij,
Christophorus et Wolfgangus fratres ac Georgius de Frangepanibus
Segnie, Veglie et Modrusie . . . (here follow the names of fifteen
Croatian nobles) ceterique universi Nobiles et proceres nee non
Nobilium Comitatuum, civitatum et districtuum, populorum,
universitas Regni Croatie, ad perpetuam rei memoriam fatemur et
recognoscimus, notumque facimus tenore presentium universis.
Cum Serenissimus et potentissimus Princeps et Dominus Ferdi-
nandus, Dei gratia Bohemie et Croatie Rex, Infans Hispaniarum
sacri Romani Imperii Princeps Elector. Archidux Austrie, . . .
(here foUow his other titles, but no reference is made to Hungary),
Princeps et Dominus noster gratiosissimus, miserit his diebus ad
nos sacre sue Regie Majestatis consiHarios et oratores, Reverendum
in Christo patrem et Dominum Do. Paulum de Oberstain, dei
gratia Prepositum Viennensem, artium Philosophic et utriusque
Juris Doctorem, Nicolaum Juritschiz Supremum Capitaneum,
Joannem Caczianer et Joannem Puchler arcis Mechou Prefectum,
Capitaneos, Dominos et Amicos nostros singulares ; et ipsi pre-
fate Regie Majestatis nomine, tanquam pleno et sufhcienti Mandate
ab ea suffulti, nos requisierint, ut suam Majestatem pro nostro
legittimo et naturali Rege et Domino, et Serenissimam Principem
et Dominam Dominam Annam Hungarie, Bohemie et Croatie
Reginam Principem et Dominum nostram gratiosiossimam pro
nostra legitima et naturali Regina et Domina recognoseremus,
illisque desuper debitum fidehtatis et homagii Juramentum pres-
taremus, quod nos exacte perpensis et diligenter consideratis Juribus,
quibus idem Rex noster Serenissimus, una cum dicta Serenissima
Domina Regina sua consorte, etc., pro sacro Regno Hungarie Jure
hereditario obtinendo ad plenum et sufficienter fulcitus et pro-
347
APPENDIX I
visus est, precipue vigore plurium inconvincibilium tractatuum,
quos nos ex fundamento vidimus, legimus et relegimus, et pos-
tremo vigore electionis juxta Decreta et Sanctiones Regni Hun-
garie, in generali Statuum et ordinum illius Regni Conventu die
xvi Mensis Decembris proxime elapsi in Oppido Posoniensi rite et
legittime facte et publicate, nee non attentis pariter tot gratiis,
opibus et emolumentis, quibus nos (et) Croatie Regnum sua Sacra
Regina Majestas sola inter tot Christianos Principes pluribus annis
contra immanissimos Thurcas, ne nos illorum seva tyrannide a
fide orthodoxa et Christiana republica deficere compelleremur,
benigne conservavit, ac infinitis aliis beneficentiis et nos et uni-
versas res nostras pro singulari sua dementia et liberalitate sibi
continue commendatas habuit : idcirco prefatorum Dominorum
Oratorum juste et honeste requisitioni, tam devote quam reverenter
annuimus, et hodie ante sumptum prandium, quum adhuc jejuni
essemus, omnes et singuli unanimitate una voce et proclamatione
nobis in generali nostro Conventu existentibus, prenominatum
Serenissimum Dominum Regem Ferdinandum, in verum legittimum
indubitatum et naturalem nostrum et tocius hujus inclyti Regni
Croatie Regem et Dominum, nee non prefatam Serenissimam
Dominam Reginam Annam in veram legittimam indubitatam et
naturalem nostram et tocius Regni Croatie Reginam et Dominam,
felici omine elegimus et recognovimus, assumpsimus, publica-
vimus, fecimus, constituimus et proclamavimus, proclamarique
fecimus per vicos et plateas, prout tenore presentium eligimus,
recognoscimus, assumimus, facimus, constituimus proclamamus
et veneramur ambas suas Maj estates in nostrum (ut premittitur)
Regem et Domimmi, Reginam et Dominam, omni meliori et alacriori
via forma jure consuetudine et solenitate, quibus melius et ef&cacius
facere potuimus (et) possumus, debuimus et debemus, una cum
prestatione debiti fidelitatis et homagii juramenti, quod similiter
publice alta et intelligibili voce, ut nobis dictus Reverendus D.
Viennensis Prepositus sua quoque voce preibat, elevatis in altum
digitis et manibus, cum summo gaudio prestitimus in forma, ut
de verbo ad verbum sequitur, et est tale, videlicet : " Juramus et
promittimus, quod ex nunc in antea erimus fideles semper et obe-
dientes Serenissimo Principi et Domino Domino Ferdinando Bohe-
morum Regi, ejusque Consorti Serenissime Domine Anne, Nate
Regine Hungarie et Bohemie, etc., Dominis nostris clementissimis J
et gratiosissimis, tanquam veris legittimis et naturalibus heredibus, *
ac Regi et Regine Regni Croatie, eorumque heredibus et locum-
tenentibus sive gubernatoribus, bonumque et commodum ac salu-
tem eorum cogitabimus et pro virili nostra promovebimus, damna
vero et prejudicia eorum pro posse nostro avertemus et precavebimus,
aliaque omnia et singula faciemus, que bonis subditis et fidelibus
servitoribus erga Dominum suum conveniunt, et ad que tenentur
et astringuntur, quodque nullo unquam tempore deinceps aliquem
348
THE CROATIAN PRAGMATIC SANCTION (1712)
alium in Dominum aut Regem nostrum acceptare vel recognoscere
velimus preter Majestates suas earumque heredes. Quodsi vero
conjunctim vel divisim comperiremus unam aut plures personas,
sive ecclesiastici sive secularis status et conditionis, que in preju-
dicium Majestatum suarum vel verbo aut facto alii vel aliis in
bonum eorundem adherere vellent, Nos, ubi tales resciremus,
continuo Majestates suas, vel superioritatem nobis per eas datam,
admonebimus et avisabimus, juvabimusque omnes tales sic inobe-
dientes ad debitam obedientiam reducere, omni penitus dolo et
fraude remotis. Ita nos Deus adjuvet et sancta ejus evangelia."
Decantato desuper solemniter in Ecclesia hie Monasterii S. Marie
visitationis fratrum minorum de observantia ad omnipotentis
Dei laudem honorem et gratiarum actionem Cantico Te Deum
laudamus, etc. cum campanarum frequenti sonitu et pulsatione.
Quo fit inter cetera, quod nos omnes et singuli, una cum Heredibus
posteris et successoribus nostris in infinitum, sumusfactiveri natu-
rales legittimi et indubitati subditi prefati Serenissimi Domini Regis
et Serenissime Domine Regine nostre ac suorum Heredum in infini-
tum ex lumbis eorum descendentium. In quorum omnium supra-
dictorum inconcussam et integram fidem et sufficiens testimonium,
has literas fieri fecimus et ereximus, quas sigillis nostris solitis
partim propriis partim communibus perpetuo valituras munimine
roboravimus. Datum in Oppido Cetinensi in general! nostro Con-
ventu in supranominato Monasterio celebrato die prima Mensis
Januarii a Nativitate Domini Jesu Christi Salvatoris nostri Millesimo
quingentesimo Vicesimo septimo.
APPENDIX II
THE CROATIAN PRAGMATIC SANCTION (1712) «'
Acta et Articuli Dominorum Statuum et Ordinum Regnorum
Croatiae et Sclavoniae, in generali eorunc em congregatione, Zagra-
biae, in Arce Episcopali, Praesidente Illuitrissimo et reverendissimo
Domino Comite Emerico Eszterhazy de Galantha, Episcopo Zagra-
biensi, Abbate B. Mariae Virginis de Thopuszka, Sacrae Caesareae
Regiaeque Maiestatis Consiliario, et officii Banalis in Politicis
Locumtenente, pro Die 9 et sequentibus Mensis Martii Anni 1712
celebrata, conclusi.
DC :(: « * Xi
Articulus Septimus.
Solicitudine atque zelo, quo Domini Status et Ordines ad asse-
curandam Patriam suam, consideratis tot et tantis eiusdem prae-
teritis periculis, et periculosis, evenibili quo casu Interregni tem-
pore, revolutionibus, et praeterea ad promerendam ampliorem hoc
suo facto Benignitatem atque benignum Regimen Augustissimae
^^' Extracted from Kukuljcvic, Jura Regni Croatiae, Dalmatiae et Slavoniae ,
Pars II, pp. 101-2.
349
APPENDIX III
Domus Austriacae, cuius deficiente Masculino (quem ut Divina
bonitas in omne aevum superesse et florere admitat, optant)
foeminini etiam Sexus retinendum, in eosdem Regium Jus, praero-
gativa, et Jure Regis et Regni exercendum subire cupient, eidem-
que se confidere, illius nimirum et talis foeminini Sexus, August-
issimi sanguinis Austriaci, qui videlicet non modo Austriae sed
Provinciarum etiam Styriae Carinthiae et Carniolae possessionem
habebit, et in modo fata Austria residebit : sinceris et unanimibus
votis moti et dispositi, statuunt, declarant et resolvunt, suosque
Dominos Ablegatos ad suam Sacratissimam Maiestatem Caesaream
et Regiam exmittendos, in eo etiam et principaliter se instructuros
decernunt, imo protinus instruunt ; ut nimirum banc eandem
praefatorum Dominorum Statuum et Ordinum, motu eorum proprio,
atque liheri arhitrii sensu, expressam et manifestatam resolutionem
ac fiduciam Sacratissimae Caesareae et Regiae Maiestati, nomine
Dominorum Statuum et Ordinum praesentent et offerant ; et
vicissim Sacratissimae Caesareae et Regiae Maiestatis, suorumque
Augustissimorum Haeredum Gratiam, et pro tenore Clementissi-
marum resolutionum promissionum et assecurationum, Augustae
reminiscentiae Austriacorum Principum et Regum Hungariae,
publicis Diaetalibus Regni Hungariae et Partium eidem annexarum
Actis, et privatis quoque, pro parte mentionatorum Dominorum
Statuum et Ordinum emanatis Testimoniis insertis, benignam
effectuationem, cum assecuratione Diplomatica, manutenendorum
et conservandorum horum omnium, et quae praeterea pro bono
et emolumento, atque Interesse securitatis, petenda ipsis occur-
rerint, petere et obtinere non intermittant.
APPENDIX III
ADDRESS OF THE CROATIAN DIET TO HIS MAJESTY,
JUNE, 1848 458
Your Majesty, —
It is a well-known fact, that the three united kingdoms of Dal-
matia, Croatia and Slavonia, though united with Hungary during
seven and a half centuries in good and bad fortune, have yet always
preserved their former rights and national liberty, and up to the
present day have never recognized the usurped hegemony of Hun-
gary. For even at the very beginning of their momentous union
with Hungary, Coloman, the first joint King of Hungary and
Croatia, was specially crowned with the crown of Croatia, and in
later times the three united kingdoms elevated to the Hungarian
throne several kings whom they had elected of their own accord,
notably Charles Robert and Charles the Less. In Zara the nation
^5^ Translated from Pejakovic, AktenstUcke, p. 79 sqq. ; Sulek, Nase Pravice
pp. 300-334.
ADDRESS OF THE CROATIAN DIET (1848)
of these kingdoms, assembled in the Diet, elected as Kings Ladislas
of Naples and Tvrtko I of Bosnia, and in that decisive epoch when
the House of Habsburg began to assert its rights to Hungary's
throne, the Croats in the year 1527 at Cetin elected Ferdinand I
as their King (after the Hungarians and Bohemians had already
done this), and thereby of themselves estabhshed the fortune and
fame of the present glorious dynasty. In the same way our nation
proved our national and parliamentary independence, when, under
Charles VI, it adopted the Pragmatic Sanction several years earlier
than the Hungarians or any other people of the Austria of to-day ;
for which it was loaded with praise by that monarch. It also
signed quite independently of Hungary, the so-called Pacification
of Vienna and the document of the Pragmatic Sanction. Thus
these kingdoms were governed in every way as a free nation, abso-
lutely equal to the Hungarian, as is proved not only by the above
facts but also by the circumstance that these kingdoms received
from several kings special Coronation diplomas, and that our Kings
pledged themselves on oath, to protect not merely Hungary but
also these three kingdoms in their rights and liberties.
The independent position of these three kingdoms is proved still
more clearly by their own Diet, which has survived up to the present
day quite independent of the Hungarian (Diet) ; in which up to
the days of Ferdinand I the Kings themselves presided, and where
they were generally elected and proclaimed also as Kings of Croatia
and Dalmatia. In this Diet these kingdoms still possess their
own legislature and preserved into recent times their own govern-
ment, which was formerly entrusted to Voivodes of royal blood and
later to Bans depending from the King. Envoys of these kingdoms
often did not appear at all at the Hungarian Diet, and when they
did, were regarded there as representatives of these kingdoms
solely in respect of our joint Hungaro-Croatian state affairs, while
the laws passed there were regarded as not binding within the
boundaries of these Kingdoms, until they were recognized as binding
in a special Diet of these Kingdoms. Consequently it often hap-
pened that such laws for our countries were drawn up in the Hun-
garian Diet solely by the representatives of these Kingdoms with
their protonotary, and then submitted to the King for sanction.
From this one can easily see the reason why those laws which relate
exclusively to these Kingdoms are always entered separately in
the Corpus Juris. In the same way resolutions of our own Diet
were not seldom recognized as laws, though they had been neither
drawn up nor debated in the Hungarian Diet ; as is sufficiently
proved by our laws of 1492 and 1538, which occur in the Corpus
Juris under the name " constitutiones et articuli Slavoniae."
The dignity of Ban, as is proved by countless charters and laws,
extended from the Drave and Danube to the Adriatic Sea, and was
always exercised, independently of the Kingdom of Hungary and
351
APPENDIX III
its dignitaries, by Bans who were subject to the King alone. In-
deed it is an uncontested fact that while Hungarian judges were
forbidden to exercise their office on this side of the Drave, our
Voivodes and Bans coined money distinct from the Hungarian.
The political administration of the internal affairs of these coun-
tries, though the Council of Lieutenancy was introduced in Hungary
much earlier, was none the less never subject to Hungary up to
the year 1779 (when the specially introduced Royal Council for
these countries was abolished), but was until the institution of
this Croato-Slavonian Council, exclusively subject to the Ban
with the Diet. It was only under Maria Theresa and Joseph II
that the office of Ban and the Diet of these Kingdoms began gra-
dually to lose their old glamour and their former power. But
even then, when in the year 1790-1, by Law Iviii, the powers of
the now dissolved Hungarian Council of Lieutenancy were extended
to these Kingdoms, such affairs as specially concerned these King-
doms, were none the less reserved to our Diet, and thus the auto-
nomy of these Kingdoms was recognized and transmitted to pos-
terity, on the basis of the conditions of mutual union and of several
fundamental laws, especially that of 1715 (Article cxx).
We have always been accustomed to see the best guarantee for
the national independence of these Kingdoms in our noble Kings,
whose innate sense of justice, as well as their solemn coronation
oath imposed on them the duty of maintaining not only the King-
dom of Hungary but also these united Kingdoms in their rights
and liberties. And so it happened that this unimpaired Royal
power, which seemed threatening to the Magyars' desire for separa-
tion, was for us a sacred refuge, to which we could always appeal
for help against our oppressors. Moreover these benefits of the
Royal power were always repaid by our loyal nation with heroic
self-sacrifice, when the rights and glory of the dynasty had to be
defended ; as is sufficiently proved by countless charters in our
archives.
But Your Majesty ! the days of last March have robbed us
loyal Croats, Slavonians and Dalmatians even of this our sole though
powerful support. Our former oppressors have also become oppres-
sors of your Majesty's Royal power. The old Hungary is falling
to dust before the breath of the new age, and with it goes the old
bond between Austria and Hungary. Austria and Hungary are
no longer one State, but there is between the two states only the
ephemeral bond, that one Monarch might rule over Austria and
Hungary, if it were physically possible for him to be enthroned
at one and the same time in Vienna and in Buda-Pest. Hungary's
trade, her finances and Army, after being administered for centuries
by the irresponsible Austrian government, have at present by a
strange contrast their own ministers quite distinct from the Austrian
(ministers), governmental responsibility being a fundamental law
352
ADDRESS OF THE CROATIAN DIET (1848)
in Austria. And as it is physically impossible to be in two different
places at the same time, Hungary has in its Palatine a real ruler,
but in its hereditary sovereign — if we call things by their real
names — merely a titular shadow- King, with whom it has intercourse
through a Foreign Minister, who is in reality only in attendance
upon Your Majesty's sacred person, in order to prevent any wish
of the loyal Slav peoples of Austria which may diverge from the
intentions of the Magyars, from gaining access to Your Majesty's
fatherly heart.
Your Majesty ! The Croat clings stubbornly to that freedom
which has been transmitted to him by his ancestors for so many
centuries, and he understands too well the requirements of modern
times, not to be heartily grateful to his sovereign for the ever
memorable concessions made during the March days to the peoples
of the unitary state {Gesammtstaat) . But we confess that a cold
shudder ran through our veins, and a dull foreboding came over
us, when towards the end of last March we unexpectedly learnt
that Hungary's new position towards Austria, instead of being
complete amalgamation in the unitary state (as we could not but
expect in view of the prevailing constitutional regime in Austria)
is that of a state which is entirely independent and separate from
Austria. This our alarm is easily explained, for if Austria be com-
pared to a strong rock towering above the seashore, Hungary
and our Kingdoms linked to it may be regarded as two different
ships of unequal tonnage but under separate commands, which are
bound by a strong cable to each other and also to the rock, which
by its strength offers equal protection and safety to them both.
If then while the sea runs high the larger ship unexpectedly attempts
to slip its cable and put out onto the stormy ocean, it is clear that
the smaller vessel, even though quite different, is in danger, if the
towing cable is stronger than the shore cable, of being dragged
out into the foaming sea, or if both cables are equally strong and
the axe is not used, of being torn asunder. In such a dangerous
position it is the duty of the smaller vessel to summon the larger
to stop, and if that is of no avail, self-preservation bids it seize
the axe and sever the cable, in order to let its dangerous neighbour
go and so secure the safety it desires from the landward side.
This, Your Majesty, is the menacing situation of these three
Kingdoms.
We loyal Croatians, Slavonians and Dalmatians neither can
nor will recognize for these countries any Ministry which seeks
to loosen the bands which have hitherto connected us with the State
as a whole {Gesammtstaat). Let Hungary separate from the Mon-
archy, and consequently from these Kingdoms, if it has the inclin-
ation and the strength ; but Croatia, Slavonia and Dalmatia
are independent countries, and as such they not merely do not
wish to loosen the existing bond with Austria, but far rather declare
s.s.Q. 353 A A
APPENDIX III
openly and unreservedly that they wish to enter into a still closer
connexion with the now constitutional Empire of Austria, on the
basis of complete equality of all nationalities. For if we and our
fathers were only deterred from a similar step by the fact that
the old Austria was governed absolutely, we for our part no longer
see any obstacle to such a rapprochement, in view of (Austria's)
metamorphosis to-day. We therefore submit in all humility for
Your Majesty's sanction the following resolutions of our Diet, com-
posed of elected representatives and meeting on June 5,
1848 :—
1. Since for the above reasons we do not recognize the present
Hungarian Government for these countries, we regard all decrees,
issued by the Hungarian Ministry in violation of our rights and
with insult to the dignity of Ban, as unlawful and illegal, and
at the same time would beg Your Majesty to declare invalid all
such actions of the Hungarian Ministry as are injurious to us,
and to shield and protect us in future from its fatal influences.
Consequently the present provisional Government — augmented by
certain individuals, especially from Lower Slavonia — should con-
tinue its present activity for which we confidently await your
Majesty's approval, and for the future requests, that a Government
may be formed for these Kingdoms, under the presidency of the
Ban, consisting of several councillors, secretaries and other indivi-
duals, and responsible to the Diet of these Kingdoms, the coun-
cillors to be nominated by Your Majesty on the recommendation
of the Ban, the others to be appointed by the Ban himself. But
in order to better ensure the unity of the Monarchy as a whole,
we are ready to subordinate even this our own provincial Govern-
ment, in matters affecting the whole State, to the responsible
Central Government of the Monarchy as a whole. These King-
doms have all the more reason to hope that this resolution will be
sanctioned, since it can be gathered from the above that they were
administered since remote times independently of Hungary, and
indeed from 1767 to 1779 possessed their own Chancellory, whose
restoration they expressly reserved in 1791, when the Hungarian
Council's sphere of action was extended to these countries. This
shows that these Kingdoms do not aspire to anything new, but
simply wish to revive their former inalienable rights, the more
so as now the old joint Hungaro-Croatian Dicasteries, through
which Your Majesty governed the so-called Hungarian territorial
complex, have ceased to exist.
2. The conduct of finance and matters of defence and trade are
to be assigned to the responsible Joint Ministry of the whole Empire.
But that our provincial interests may be duly represented there,
a Council of State responsible to the Diet of these Kingdoms and
supplied with the necessary staff, should be appointed by Your
Majesty in connexion with the central power, and should counter-
354
ADDRESS OF THE CROATIAN DIET (1848)
sign every measure of the Central Government relative to these
Kingdoms.
3. The entire Military Frontier of these Kingdoms should also
be subordinated, in the spirit of complete constitutional freedom,
to the proposed provincial Government in all matters other than
purely military, and only in purely military matters should be
left under the Central War Ministry. The chief command over
the entire military forces of these Kingdoms should, however, in
accordance mth ancient rights, be entrusted to the Ban of these
countries.
4. The official language in the entire public hfe without any
exception shall be the national Slav language (spoken) in these
countries ; and in such a way that even the decrees of the Central
Government relative to these countries shall be published exclu-
sively in this language.
5. All matters relating to internal administration will fall within
the sphere of the Diet of these Kingdoms. But in respect of those
affairs which proceed from the mutual relation of these Kingdoms
to the State as a whole, these Kingdoms submit to the decisions
of the Central Parhament, to which also the Central Ministry will
be responsible for its actions.
But in order to prove that they definitely adhere to the Unitary
State, these Kingdoms have already elected their deputies for the
Central Parliament of the whole Monarchy, which is to be held
on'^June 26 ; and these (deputies) are to convey, in the name of the
whole nation, to the representatives of the other alhed peoples of
Austria, our just and earnest wishes of support and greeting.
6. Since it is natural that kindred nationalities should exercise
a mutual attraction on each other, and since the Kingdom of Dal-
matia, both in view of ancient chartered rights and the coronation
oath and solemn promises of Your Majesty, forms an integral part
of these Kingdoms, the said Kingdom of Dalmatia shall, both in
respect of legislation and administration, be completely reunited
to these Kingdoms, while the remaining Southern Slav portions
of the Monarchy — namely the restored Serb Voivody, which we
desire to see confirmed by Your Majesty in accordance with the
old rights conferred upon the Serb nation, and then Lower Styria,
Carinthia, Carniola, Istria and Gorz — shall be brought into closer
connexion with these Kingdoms.
7. These Kingdoms wish to maintain still further their friendly
relation with the peoples inhabiting the Kingdom of Hungary in
the sense of the Pragmatic Sanction and on the basis of the liberty,
equahty and fraternity of all nationahties living under the Crown
of Hungary. But how this is to be carried out, the nation of these
Kingdoms will decide when these its just wishes have been fulfilled
355
APPENDIX III
by Your Majesty, and when the true situation of Hungary in
relation to the state as a whole, has become clearer.
8. All political and judicial officials, whose appointment lies
with Your Majesty alone, are to be only provisionally appointed
by the Ban, and such appointments are to be submitted to Your
Majesty for approval.
9. Until a new legal procedure is introduced, appeal cases from
these Kingdoms to the high courts in Hungary are not to be allowed.
10. With a view of furthering a fulfilment of our nation's wishes,
Baron Francis Kulmer has been unanimously elected as represen-
tative of these Kingdoms at Your Majesty's Throne, which election
we beg your Majesty graciously to confirm.
11. Finally we most solemnly declare that since under Article
XI of 1608 the power of the Ban extends from the Drave to the
Adriatic Sea, we regard as integral parts of these Kingdoms the
counties of Pozega, Virovitica and Syrmia, as also the regiments
of Gradiska, Brod and Peterwardein, which are known legally
and historically under the name of Lower Slavonia — further the
districts of Fiume, Buccari and Vinodol, which according to Royal
privileges, history and so many laws, belong to Croatia : and we
shall manfully defend and protect all these as our lawful inheritance,
against every hostile attack.
These are the just resolutions hitherto passed in our Diet, and
the wishes expressed by our nation, which we desire to see
sanctioned and fulfilled by Your Majesty.
Your Majesty ! More than once since the memorable days of
March we sent our deputies to Your Majesty with wishes and griev-
ances, but Your Majesty always saw fit to console us by referring
them graciously to the Diet of these three united Kingdoms and
bidding us in this Diet lay bare our wounds to the fatherly heart
of Your Majesty, where we might certainly expect them to be
healed. It is this which now happens in this our most dutiful
representation, and we confidently hope, that Your Majesty will
not withhold your royal sanction from the urgent and just reso-
lutions of a loyal and brave people. For even though it be assumed
that Your Majesty as King of Hungary felt prompted to various
generous concessions, and hence as such could not make any dis-
position without the Hungarian nation, yet this very true though
sad assumption does not in any way exist in respect to our three
united Kingdoms : for the Kingdoms of Dalmatia, Croatia and
Slavonia also have their own King, who has by a solemn oath
pledged himself to defend unimpaired their rights and liberties,
just as those of the Kingdom of Hungary, and who, having nowhere
and never nor through our action been deprived of his traditional
Royal authority, also enjoys the full power, in accordance with
his oath and at the wish of his Kingdoms, to grant them his fatherly
support where and as he pleases. And this King of Dalmatia,
356
ARTICLE XLII OF THE CROATIAN DIET
Croatia and Slavonia we honour and appeal to for help, in the
crowned and exalted person of Your Majesty.
We respectfully remain Your Majesty's loyal subjects,
The Ban and Deputies of the Kingdoms of Dalmatia, Croatia
AND Slavonia.
Agram, Sth and following days of June, 1848.
APPENDIX IV
ARTICLE XLII (1861) OF THE CROATIAN DIET *59
On the ground of the Royal proposition (predlog) of February 26,
1861, No. 152, and on the basis of the proposals accepted in the
Central Committee, after several weeks' deliberation and in con-
sideration of the relations of the Triune Kingdom towards the
Crown and Kingdom of Hungary, and after a provisional resolu-
tion passed in defence of its national liberty. . . .
The Sabor of the Triune Kingdom resolves as follows : —
§ I. The Triune Kingdom of Dalmatia, Croatia and Slavonia
in its present territorial extent — counting in this the counties of
Firmie (with the town of Fiume, its district and the rest of the coast),
Zagreb, Varazdin, Krizevci, Pozega, Virovitica and Syrmia, and
the existing Military Frontiers, viz., eight Croatian and three
Slavonian regiments, namely, those of Lika, Otocak, Ogulin, Slunj,
the first and second Banal, and those of Krizevci and St. George,
then those of Gradiska, Brod and Peterwardein : likewise under-
standing as included in this the right to Medjumurje and the remain-
ing \'irtual and territorial rights of these kingdoms — declares and
announces, by way of its Sabor sitting in the capital Zagreb, that
since the events of the year 1848 every other link, whether legisla-
tive or administrative or judicial, between the Triune Kingdom
of Dalmatia-Croatia-Slavonia and the Kingdom of Hungary has
legally entirely ceased ; except that His Majesty, their joint King,
in accordance with their joint laws up to 1848, has, after the con-
clusion of a special Coronation diploma for the Triune Kingdom and
the Kingdom of Hungary, to be crowned as King of Dalmatia-
Croatia-Slavonia, and that by the free wish of the nation of the
Triune Kingdom, with the identical crown and coronation cere-
mony by which he is crowned as King of Hungary ; and that to the
Triune Kingdom, apart from its special fundamental status and con-
stitutional rights, there also still belong all those public rights which
belonged to the Kingdom of Hungary till the end of the year 1847,
and in so far as these do not conflict indirectly or directly with their
autonomy and independence as proclaimed above.
*^' Translated from B. Sulek, Na^e Pravice (Our Rights), pp. 400-403.
357
APPENDIX IV
§ 2. But bearing in mind its joint past history with the Hun-
garian Kingdom and its former joint constitutional hfe with it,
and likewise bearing in mind the community of interests in respect
of the maintenance and development of constitutional freedom :
the Triune Kingdom of Dalmatia, Croatia and Slavonia, bringing
under discussion His Majesty's Royal Proposition [predlog) of
February 28, 1861 (No. 152), by which it is invited to express its
wishes and ideas regarding its relations with the Kingdom of Hun-
gary, declares valid the resolution of its Sabor, to the effect that
the latter is ready, in view of the advantage and requirements which
it has in common with the Kingdom of Hungary, to enter upon a
still closer constitutional {staatsrechtliche : drzavo-pravan) con-
nexion, as soon as on the part of the Kingdom of Hungary the
above-mentioned independence and autonomy, as also the above-
cited real and theoretical territorial extent of the Triune Kingdom,
shall have been legally recognized.
§ 3. The above-mentioned constitutional bond between the
Triune Kingdom of Dalmatia, Croatia and Slavonia would have to
be — on the basis of their (i.e. the Triune Kingdom's) complete
traditional constitution and the already mentioned independence
of the Triune Kingdom and its equal rights as a state {drzavne
ravno pravnosti) — founded on the joint legislature and the adminis-
tration created by it, limited to those affairs of state which shall be
specified more precisely by the terms of the aUiance {savez *^°).
§ 4. The legislature and supreme executive in political affairs,
and in matters 
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